Your Gaze
by HawkofNavarre
Summary: Sakura's always hated her coworker, Syaoran, but then her friend, Meilin, asks Sakura to help her admit her feelings for him. No problem! Sakura doesn't like him…right? SxS ExT
1. Discovering Strange Feelings

**IMPORTANT: **Okay, I'm only writing this once, so…

"Speech"

YELLING

_Thinking / Emphasis_

**Author's Note:** Okay my friends (if anyone is reading…)! I've decided to start this fic at Christmas since… well it's HERE people! Merry Christmas or Happy Hanukah! Hopefully I get lots of reviewers and then I shall be happy. Note that the more reviews I get, the faster I'll update, but I really can't control that, now can I? Oh geez… I forgot… --

**Disclaimer:** I HATE writing these disclaimers, okay? Don't people already know that Clamp owns Card Captor Sakura? Gosh! I don't intend to own it either, so I DON'T OWN IT!

**Hello!** This is an A/N edited in by me. The first three chapters are probably the worst in the story. Chapter 15, which I just updated is beautiful. D

Let's just see how this story goes...

On to the story…

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**Chapter 1 – Discovering Strange Feelings**

"Ah! Christmas!" Sakura exclaimed, tossing herself onto one of the seats at the Christmas party for their work place.

"I'm totally psyched!" Tomoyo squealed as she took a seat next to her best friend. "Eriol wants me to spend Christmas with him this year!"

Sakura frowned, her good mood definitely gone. Tomoyo had promised… well sort of… that she would spend this special holiday with her. Perfect, just perfect. Now she would be alone on the day she loved celebrating the most.

"But you promised to stay with meee!" Sakura whined with her most pouty face.

"No I didn't. I specifically said that I promised to try and celebrate Christmas with you," Tomoyo pointed out. "And besides, I've spent Christmas with you for the past eight years. This is only one time."

"Fine," she sighed angrily, "but you gotta come to my house the day after! Especially because of the incident that happened two weeks ago. I need you with me "

"Deal!" Tomoyo agreed, grinning at her achievement.

Sakura shivered as the door swung open. The powerful winds outside blew forcefully into the room as a girl with long, navy blue hair entered. Her head was lifted up high, and was smirking cockily in her tight red jacket with a miniskirt that could be considered as a slutty piece of material. The girl's boots clicked annoyingly while she walked across the room, the snow she'd collect outside falling off of her. She headed towards Sakura and Tomoyo.

"Holy mother of crap, Meilin! What the hell are you_ wearing_?" Tomoyo questioned her in shock of the sluttiness involved.

"For your information, dumb ass, it's called a miniskirt," Meilin replied, taking off her tight red jacket to reveal heavy wool sweater. She sat down next to Tomoyo. "And I ran out of winter clothes to wear."

"No kidding! You have loads of clothes to wear and so I'm guessing you don't do laundry much," Sakura stated, a bit disgusted at her friend's choice of clothes.

"Once a month…"

"_EW_!" Sakura and Tomoyo screamed in unison.

Meilin opened her mouth to reply before a brown haired, amber-eyed man approached. He casually stuffed his hands into his pockets and flashed the three pretty ladies a charming smile.

"Good evening my beautiful ladies! Enjoying the party?" he asked as her put his right arm around Meilin's shoulders.

"Y-yes…" Meilin stuttered, blushing a deep scarlet that was so heated, a person could feel it from a meter away.

Sakura snorted rudely at her coworker, but decided to be nice since she knew Meilin had a crush on him.

"We're good, Syaoran," Sakura replied, forcing herself to sound sincere, "but we were better before _you_ came."

_Whoops! Oh crap… I was SUPPOSED to be nice. Ugh… So much for that plan._

"Hn…" was his 'hurt' reply.

"We're doing fine, Syaoran," Tomoyo said, trying to make up for Sakura's comment. "But… um… do you happen to know where Eriol is?"

Everyone sweat dropped. It was so typical of her, asking about her boyfriend left and right. Sakura was beginning to wonder if Eriol was more important to her than her friends. No… That couldn't be right. Tomoyo was a great friend.

_She's not gonna ditch us, she's not gonna ditch us, she's not gonna ditch us!_

"Eriol? Oh, he's by the bar. Sort of staring off into the distance. I'm guessing he's thinking about you," Syaoran told her, throwing in his thoughts along with an answer.

Tomoyo blushed and nodded a thanks before scurrying off in the direction of the bar to her awaiting prince.

"Oh god…" Sakura groaned as she placed her head in her hands and shook her head.

"Jealous?" Syaoran asked her teasingly.

Sakura scowled and Meilin blushed even harder. "I don't feel like talking about romantic relationships right now," she growled between her teeth.

Stupid love life. I swear, I'm never going to get another boyfriend, EVER again. Not after what he did…

**Flashback:** Two weeks ago

Sakura entered her boyfriend's house, hoping to surprise him by getting there early. She kicked off her shoes and went into the kitchen. Sakura headed for the door of his bedroom that was currently closed. Her hand reached for the knob holding it closed until… she heard noises.

It was a horrible noise, yet it echoed in her brain. Disgusting moans and screams drifted their way out the door and into her ears. Sakura wanted it to stop, but it didn't. It continued, never hesitating to show her the noise. Every sound that came through that door was hurting Sakura more and more. She had to make it stop.

Sakura opened the door.

She struggled to keep the tears in her eyes and not let them fall, but the things she was seeing threatened her knees to give out.

"How could you?" Sakura screamed, her efforts useless against the water that streamed down her cheeks.

The man in the room looked up from under the bed covers. "S-Sakura?"

"I despise you!" she hissed furiously, throwing the key to his home at him, hard.

Sakura stormed through the kitchen, knocking various things down as she went. She kicked his coat stand down, unleashing her anger on the thin piece of wood. Sakura put on her shoes and tried to open the door that lead to the outside, but it was extremely complicated with the burning tears making her eyes blurry.

"Sakura, wait!" pleaded the half-naked man coming after her. "It's not what you think!"

"That's what they all say!" she retorted, not looking at the man who just crushed her heart. "We're over!"

"But… please Sakura! You've got to understand!" he begged, putting his hand on her shoulder.

Sakura finally released the lock. She stood for a moment, thinking about what she was throwing away. It would be so easy to forget about this day and she could spend the rest of her life with the man she 'loved.'

"Why did you do it? Was it because I wouldn't get in bed with you?" she asked angrily, her right hand placed on the doorknob.

"I… I…"

"Goodbye Lei, have fun with your slut," Sakura told him as she opened the door.

And she left.

**End Flashback**

Sakura snapped out of her flashback, paying attention to reality again. She hadn't missed much because all Syaoran was doing was flirting with Meilin. She sighed; she really hoped she wouldn't cry again.

_Enjoy the moment Sakura; don't let the past get you down._

"Back with us Sakura?" Syaoran asked, grinning like always.

"No, only with Meilin actually," she replied smoothly.

"Oh, but your dear friend has gone to the ladies room," he explained, attempting to flirt again while pointing at the navy haired girl entering a door. "So you're stuck with handsome little me."

"Handsome? Oh I beg to differ."

"Why is that? Am I too hot for you to admit?"

"You look quite cold. Nobody ever said corpses could talk."

"Only the sexy ones."

Whoa! Sakura worked with this guy for two years and she never knew he could take her comeback skills on. This was really pissing her off. It was a conversation that she just couldn't win. She could certainly say that Syaoran really ticked her off, as he was just about the only male who could make her angry.

Too bad that before she could say another word, a small 'meeting' was called.

"Everyone, please gather to this table!" the party planner called.

"I guess we'd better go then, eh?" Syaoran suggested, already working on getting there.

Sakura frowned but quickly followed after him. She paused for a quick look for her friends and saw Tomoyo, who currently had her arms wrapped around Eriol's left arm, was coming too. Also, Meilin reported to the little get together after exiting the ladies room. Sakura stood with the crowd.

"Alrighty everybody!" the man yelled. "Fellow designers! As our Christmas tradition goes on, we're holding a Secret Santa again this year! Please come up and draw a name! If you draw your own name, put it back and draw another!"

And with that, the man began to laugh crazily.

Sakura waited patiently to get to the large box containing many names. It was too bad that Christmas had turned into this material thing when it was really about things that didn't involve cash. Well, at least she only had to buy _one_ present.

She eventually approached the cardboard box, but there wasn't that many names left. Sakura reached in and pulled out one name. She decided to keep herself in suspense and read it later.

Sticking the unknown name in her pocket, Sakura walked over to the table where Meilin was sitting. Tomoyo had obviously gone off with her precious boyfriend again, hopefully _not_ to the washroom together. Just thinking about that made Sakura feel a bit sick.

"Meilin," Sakura greeted politely while sitting down next to her lovesick friend.

"Hey Sakura," Meilin said back. "I'm a little bit confused right now…"

"Oh really? Well, come on then. Tell me what it is! Shoot!" Sakura commanded, concerned for her friend.

"Um… well…" she stuttered nervously. "It's kind of… about Syaoran…"

"We know you like him, but what else, huh?" Sakura pushed, encouraging for Meilin to keep going.

"I know that… um… you don't really… _like_ Syaoran or anything but…"

"Well wait just a minute!" Sakura shouted, causing navy-haired girl to shut her mouth. "Where did you get that idea?"

"From you…"

"Uh… _right…_"

"Never mind then, I'll just ask Tomoyo," Meilin replied, reconsidering her choice.

"No! No!" Sakura cried, hoping Meilin would change her mind again. "I'm sorry Meilin, it's just… I _want_ to like him for your sake…"

Meilin gave her a small smile, then looked down. She seemed to be in deep thought, no doubt that she was trying to figure out whether she should tell Sakura of her plans or not.

"Don't worry Meilin, I won't tell anyone and I'll try to help as best I can," Sakura sincerely explained.

"Okay, Sakura, I trust you," Meilin said, smiling again. "You know that I like Syaoran, but I think that he likes someone too…"

"Who do you think?"

"I think… I think that he likes… _you,_ Sakura…"

"M-_me?_" Sakura asked incredulously. She'd rather have Lei want her back then have Syaoran LI have a crush on her! "Why? Why would he like me?"

Meilin sighed. "I don't understand either, Sakura. I mean, you practically hate him and yet… the way… the way he talks about you…"

_Wait just one minute! Syaoran Li TALKS about me? What the hell!_

Sakura felt as if time was speed up on her and she was in the middle, struggling to stay on track. Why was this happening? Syaoran liked her, but so what? She didn't have to like him back. In fact, she nearly hated him, like Meilin said. Even so, she still didn't want to hear what else Meilin had to say. It was making her feel awfully strange and tingly for some reason.

"Syaoran, he… tells me things…" Meilin kept going. "He says things to me… like I'm his best friend…"

Mentally begging for Meilin to shut up, Sakura couldn't seem to open her mouth, so she just nodded.

"He tells me that he's been trying to get your attention for months now, but you just ignore him all the time…"

_For months now? But, he's never nice to me or anything like that…Something's seriously messed up..._

"Syaoran, he never smiles like he does whenever you're verbally insulting him…"

Sakura thought back to her little word fight which Syaoran won last time. He'd been grinning like a maniac, but he was usually grinning like that, wasn't he?

"Because it's the only time you ever look him in the eyes…"

Syaoran's eyes…his amber eyes… 

_Why do I look him in the eye?_

_Because I don't like him... I don't like him... Not after Lei..._

_STOP IT! WHAT IS MEILIN DOING TO ME?_

"But when he looks at me… he doesn't smile, the way he smiles at you…"

_How does he smile at me?_

"It's fake, because he's only truly happy when he's looking at you, Sakura."

_I can't make anyone happy, right Lei?_

_Oh... What am I thinking..._

"And I go numb when he stares at me, or even talks to me…and so it's hard…"

Sakura was feeling nauseous at the moment, and she didn't even know why. Her body was acting strangely, shaking, shivering—it was doing all sorts of weird things. She had to help Meilin though, since she was her friend after all, and that's what friends do. Help each other through hard times.

"I just want Syaoran to think about me, the way he's thinking about you," Meilin concluded quietly, her voice almost a whisper.

Sakura nodded once again. She could barely think about Meilin—or anyone for that matter. But Sakura was going to do what a good friend would.

"Don't worry Meilin," Sakura told her, her voice falsely cheerful. "I'll stand out of your way even _if_ Syaoran likes me! In fact, I'll try to set you two up!"

"Really?" asked Meilin in disbelief. "I thought you would try and go after him once I told you that…"

"No way, go with _that_ jerk? You must be crazy!" Sakura exclaimed, still playing the actress. She didn't even know _why_ she wasn't happy to help her friend.

"I must be," she said, giggling softly. "Thanks Sakura."

"No problem Meilin,"

That was when Meilin waved her goodbye with a huge smile on her face and skipped out the door along with her really miniskirt.

Sakura sighed some more, still confused at her strange actions. She decided to look at the paper in her pocket to see whom she'd gotten to give a present to. Hesitantly, Sakura pulled the folded piece of paper out of her jean pocket. For some reason, she watched if for a while. The thing made her nervous, although it was just a piece of paper. Sakura suspected it must've been the confusion that she had been feeling all evening. Again, sighing, Sakura finally opened the fold and read it carefully.

**This year you will be the Secret Santa to:**Syaoran Li

Oh no…

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**Author's Note:** Hi guys, just wondering, do you think that this chapter was too long? If so, you can suggest 1000 words +, 1500+, or 2000+ (which this chapter is). So, please review guys! I might kill this story if I end up hating it because nobody reads it! 

Come on! Press that little button down there guys!


	2. Is She Jealous?

**Disclaimer:** I own this chair I'm sitting on and also a bag of chips. I'm still working on CCS.

**Author's Note:** Hi guys! Sorry for not updating sooner, but the last weeks of school before winter break are full of tests and I haven't had time to write. At least now that it's break I have more time to write. Anyway, I just wanted to say that I've decided to keep this story going as long as I feel it's going somewhere, okay? Also, sorry for the typos in the last chapter. I didn't have time to check it over since I was in a hurry to create the story. Good, one last thing:

**Thank you so much, reviewers! The time you put into your reviews is deeply appreciated. You've made me happy! Don't forget to review at the end of this chapter!**

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**Chapter 2 – Is she Jealous?**

BEEP

BEEP

BEEP

"Shut up…" Sakura ordered groggily, slamming the feathery pillow over her head. "Sleep time…"

The alarm clock continued to scream at her, demanding her to get her lazy ass out of the bed. Giving in to the clock's commands, Sakura turned off the clock and decided to lie around for awhile as she tried to rid herself of the loud noise that was still ringing in her head. She didn't want to get out of bed or, even worse, go to work, but she was confused at why. Usually working wasn't so bad since all she had to do was design clothes, in which she was strangely good at.

Sakura groaned in pain. She felt miserable although she was physically fine. Why did she feel like this? She rolled over in her bed and saw a paper lying beside the alarm clock.

Syaoran… Right, now she remembered. Sakura was stupid enough to promise Meilin something she felt she really couldn't do herself.

_I can't believe I did that… I'm such a stupid, crappy friend…_

Sighing heavily before sliding out of bed, Sakura dreadfully dragged herself into the bathroom to prepare for what was going to be a very long day at work.

Walking as slowly as she possibly could, Sakura trudged gloomily along the sidewalk. She was attempting to get to work _exactly _on time so she wouldn't have to spare any time looking at the anger-providing brunette. Unfortunately, her walk was cut short as she saw that her horrid destination was right in front of her. Great, she was early. Tiredly, she decided that it was way too cold to stay outside much longer. Giving the building a quick glance, she sulked quietly and pushed open the door.

Sakura nodded in greeting at the secretary as she slid her identification card through the sign-in slot. She went through the gate and up the stairs to meet the people she really didn't want to see.

"Morning," Sakura mumbled, talking in a tone that was half-angry, and half-sad.

"Sakura!" Meilin called to her as she waved with a piece of bread in her hand.

"Why are you so early today?" she asked exhaustedly while she collapsed into her welcoming chair.

Meilin blushed shyly. "I wanted to come and watch… you know…"

Ah yes, the infamous Syaoran Li. Sakura wondered what was so good about the amber-eyed man. He seemed like the flirty type—no, he _was_ a huge flirt—and a stupid ladies man at that. As crazy as it was, practically every woman at the office had this weird infatuation with the jerk.

"Ah! So the beautiful cherry blossom arrives!" announced an irritating voice as the nearby love-crazy girl slid away, blushing.

"Shut up you fat ass," she rudely threw at Syaoran.

Wait… Syaoran?

_Oh no…_

"My, my!" Syaoran said with that nearly permanent grin pasted on his face. "Aren't we grumpy this wonderful morning!"

"Yeah, only because when I saw you, my eyes almost caught on fire from your ugliness," Sakura replied bitterly as she pulled out a few papers with clothing designs sketched on them.

"How you hurt me…" Syaoran moaned in sarcasm, now leaning over her shoulder.

"You must be gay!" she accused, suddenly running out of things to comeback with for some reason. This was a desperate one. "Mostly only guys who are gay become designers!"

"Indeed I am gay, although I prefer to use the adjective 'happy' rather than gay, if you don't mind," he smoothly offered, probably enjoying the fact that Sakura was beginning to get angry.

"Alright then, have it your way, but I would please like to ask you if you would kindly go away since your giant ego is starting to kill everyone in this room."

"Aww! The wonderful Sakura wants to save my life! I'm touched!"

"That made no sense! And would you just _shut up_ already?"

Syaoran laughed in triumph. Jeez, did this guy ever give up? Luckily, Syaoran gave her at least a little respect and left her alone. Sakura folded her arms on her desk and placed her chin on them, glaring at anything that was in front of her.

_Score: 2-0 Syaoran. I can't believe I'm losing every battle to **him**! _

_But Meilin…_

_UGH! Why did I even say I would help her in the first place? _

_Sure, I wanna be a good friend, but how am I supposed to do what she **wants** me to when I'm not even sure how to? _

_He pisses me off so much too. God! _

"Hey Sakura," someone greeted her, snapping her out of her thoughts.

Sakura quickly sat up and turned her head. "Oh, hey Tomoyo, Eriol."

Eriol managed a small wave before Tomoyo pulled his head down into a deep kiss. Sakura was acutely aware that her best friend had just slid her tongue in the guy's mouth and cringed with disgust. She watched them make out for about thirty seconds until that irritating voice showed up again.

"Enjoying the show?" Syaoran asked, making Sakura get a bad urge to knee him in the crotch with all her strength. Who'd be laughing then?

She decided not to answer this one.

"Yes? Ah, well then would you like to experiment that procedure with me?"

And Sakura snapped.

_SMACK!_

"Ow!" Syaoran whimpered in a sarcastically pathetic fashion meaning he hadn't taken much damage. He held the cheek she'd slapped with his left hand. "Sakura! Why would you hurt lil' ol' me?"

"You need to _ask_,_ pervert_?" Sakura screamed, glaring daggers at her foe.

"Syaoran!" a person, probably Meilin, cried in concern.

The worried navy-haired woman rushed to his side to make sure he was okay, but because Meilin was definitely obsessed with the man, it was clear that he was fine. She pulled his hand from his face and gently massaged his cheek with utmost care. Meilin seemed extremely happy as she shot a look of gratitude at Sakura, leaving her confused.

"Aww, Meilin's so _sweet_!" Syaoran cooed, pulling the caring woman into a tight hug.

Meilin's face turned so red that she looked like she was covered in scarlet paint. Now that Sakura had released all her stress and rage onto Syaoran's face, she could feel her anger level heightening again, having no clue as to why.

Calming herself, Sakura suggested, "Why don't you two go get a room?"

"Excellent idea! I shall do as the cherry blossom commands!" he howled obtusely, whizzing Meilin off her feet as he carried her in a bridal position into his office and slammed the door loudly.

_SLAM!_

Meanwhile, Tomoyo and Eriol had advanced into a supply closet and were kissing wildly with sweat glistening on their foreheads. They knocked down papers and pens while erasers were flying everywhere.

_SLAM!_

Tomoyo took her mouth off Eriol's. "What was that?" she whispered, staring at the closet door.

"Who cares?" he murmured, pulling her back for another make out session.

Sakura let out a small groan as she flung her pencil across her desk in frustration. Her watch gave a little sound, indicating that it was 12:30, _finally_. She couldn't wait for lunch break as the morning had gone extremely slow. She'd only finished one sketch in three hours when she could usually finish five in the same amount of time. Reluctantly, Sakura stood up and went to go and buy lunch.

Putting down her box of sushi, Sakura broke her chopsticks. She sat down and it felt like she was alone in her own little world. Tomoyo had Eriol, and Meilin had er… the guy whose name she didn't even want to think of.

Jeez… Stupid friends… All getting stupid boyfriends… Stupid boyfriends… 

"Ah look! An empty chair!"

Sakura looked up only to see the person she wanted to see the least right now. He was like _everywhere_ and it was getting really annoying for her to keep seeing the dude that was pissing her off the most. Using her chopsticks, she picked up a roll and took a bite, glaring at Syaoran who was in the process of opening his soy sauce.

"Why are you here?" Sakura asked, aggravated.

"Can't friends sit with each other?" Syaoran questioned her back.

She snickered softly, continuing to eat. They sat in silence as they ate, surprisingly, before Sakura thought it was time to break it. It was time to do what she'd promised to do yesterday.

"Um… Let's call a truce!" Sakura offered nervously. She didn't even want to bother wondering why she was sparing emotions on this moron.

"A truce? For what? We never fight!" he told her as his face slipped into a grin again.

"Oh come on! I'm _trying_ to be nice here and you're not helping!" she sighed exasperatedly.

"You be nice? I'll kiss you when that day comes!"

Sakura almost felt a nerve pop, but suddenly, an image of Syaoran kissing her found its way into her brain. Her head was close to exploding when she realized what she was thinking and she smacked herself on the forehead. Syaoran gave her a strange look.

"Sorry, I think trying to be nice to you is making me crazy," she explained, although a tiny part of her felt something called 'denial,' but she didn't pay any attention to it.

"Right…"

Sakura sighed again. This was going to be the hard part. What should she say…?

Syaoran was busy munching away on his sushi as seconds passed. His eyes turned up at her, glistening curiously. She couldn't concentrate, but she _had_ to get this done no matter what.

"Well, anyways… I uh… wanted to ask you to… uh… do me a… favour?" Sakura inquired, hoping she had gotten to the point.

Syaoran nearly fell off his chair.

"Y-you… _what?_" he spluttered in disbelief.

"A favour you idiot!" she practically shrieked in irritation.

"Okay! I hear you!" Syaoran informed her with mild fear. "So what exactly _is_ this favour you want from me?"

"I want you to… err… that is to say…"

"Well, hurry up Kinomoto! Lunch break's almost over!"

"Quiet! I'm trying to think here!"

"Then think _faster_ 'cause I don't have all day!"

"Don't rush me!"

"If I don't, at the rate you're going, you'll never finish your pointless thinking!"

"It's not POINTLESS!"

"Then what's the favour genius?"

"GO OUT WITH MEILIN! Jeez! _Some_ people! Jackass…"

"Wait a minute," Syaoran said, his eyes widening, "you're finding me dates now?"

"No!" Sakura yelled in frustration. "Oh… I hate this! Somebody kill me!"

"A date with Meilin… hmm…"

"I can't believe I even agreed with this… Now Syaoran thinks I'm trying to set him up! Oh, perfect."

"I accept this date with Meilin!"

"I mean honestly, I'm just trying to help and—wait, y-you _what?_" Sakura took a backtrack.

"I'll go on the date with Meilin, gladly," he repeated calmly.

And for the first time in his presence, Sakura smiled a real smile. Some kind of glee filled her, but there was a twinge of anger within her. Once more ignoring the bad feeling and focusing and the good one, she squealed in happiness. Syaoran raised an eyebrow at the woman's reaction, as it seemed just a little—or _way_ too strange that Sakura was making her voice really high-pitched in excitement.

"Woohoo!" she squealed in joy. "Oh Syaoran! You don't know how happy you've just made me! Thank you, thank you, _thank you!_ Go to Meilin's house at 7 sharp, and don't be late!"

Giggling with relief and glee, Sakura stood up, threw her sushi container in the trash and skipped to the door, practically twirling out of the food court.

"Yay!" Sakura shouted as she pranced, which was very rare, into the office. "What a wonderful day!"

She spotted Meilin and whirled over to her friend.

"Meilin! I've got _good news_!" she announced proudly.

"Oh! Sakura!" Meilin replied in surprise. "Great! I've been looking for you all lunch! I wanted to say something!"

"Me too! Syaoran—"

"Wait, please. I really wanted to thank you for earlier. Although you _did_ slap Syaoran and I really don't want him getting hurt, it still gave me a chance to get his attention for awhile, so… thanks a lot Sakura," Meilin thanked her with gratitude. "Now what was it you wanted to say?"

"I got you a date with Syaoran."

_THUD!_

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**Author's Note: **And that's the end with a cliffy! Aren't I evil? Myess? Haha, I know. Please don't kill me! I'm only 13! Will you guys please review now? I promise I'll update faster if I get up to 12! 


	3. Careless Actions on Christmas Eve

**Disclaimer:** I don't own CCS; please don't sue the innocent!

**Author's Note:** Hmm… I'm a bit confused at readers. I have over 250 hits and only 8 reviews… Wow, how many people actually review? Well, um… thanks for reading…I guess… and reviewers, may your rooms explode with love from me. : ) Also, how many people READ the author's note? When I read other people's they're actually quite interesting, and mine aren't even that long. Okay, I'll stop complaining now.

Sorry about the last couple of chapters, fellow readers, but fanfiction won't cooperate with my spacing so time changes in paragraphs don't work properly, but I've done something new! So don't worry! This chapter will be Christmasy (It's so late, I know), so bear with me.

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**Chapter 3 – Careless Actions on Christmas Eve**

As Sakura exited the store holding a small box in her hand, hoping her Secret Santa victim would like her gift. She sighed, beginning to walk down the street to her workplace. She'd taken the day off, but she was still going to the Christmas Eve party that was taking place tonight. Of course, everyone would be exchanging gifts that night and so Sakura had to do some last minute shopping.

She slid through the thick and noisy crowds of people, tucking the beautifully wrapped present into her pocket safely. Sakura thought back to yesterday, and what happened to Meilin as she dodged the many adults and children coming her way.

**Flashback**

_THUD!_

"Meilin!" Sakura cried out in concern, quickly kneeling down to her fallen comrade.

Releasing a breath of relief, as she knew that Meilin was only unconscious, she sat down beside the woman that lay face-up on the floor. Sakura shook Meilin gently, careful not to stun her easily shocked friend more than she already was.

"S-Sakura?" she asked blurrily, opening her eyes slowly and moving to a sitting position. "Ouch, what happened?"

"Date," she explained in one word, worried that the girl would faint again. "Syaoran."

"Date… Syaoran… Oh my gosh! Right! I've got a date with Syaoran!" Meilin exclaimed, widening her eyes with happiness.

Sakura just nodded.

"Sakura! You're awesome! You rock! You're the best ever! You-"

"Don't worry about it Meilin!" Sakura told her, shrugging off the navy-haired woman's horde of compliments. "I promised you I would."

"Ooh! THANK YOU SO MUCH!"

**End Flashback**

Sakura felt sick to her stomach thinking about it. She felt so guilty, but didn't know why. She continued to deny the things in her mind that kept telling her that she enjoyed being around Syaoran herself. Sakura Kinomoto would not lose to some kind of weird things that Meilin had planted in her mind during their last party! Besides, she'd already lost to Syaoran twice.

She trudged through the mass of people and headed for the hotel. Apparently, the party would be starting at 4 o'clock, and it was currently quarter to four.

-

Bursting through the door to escape the furious cold, Sakura set herself down on the two-person couch, pulling off her jacket and scarf. As she did this, she took out the cute box that contained the Christmas present she had bought for Syaoran. Sakura briefly considered mailing it to him, then quitting her job and fleeing to Australia to live in the jungles, but her imagination had gone just a bit too wild there. The only thing good about that plan was that she would ever have to see the moronic boy she despised to deeply.

Sakura gazed at the content in the box, would he like it or would he say thanks and toss it along like nothing. She really hoped he would like it.

And that's when she realized it.

What in the name of the moon was she doing? Sakura…she hated the amber-eyed boy, didn't she? So why was she worrying about if he would like the gift or not? She'd want him to hate it. In fact, now that she really thought about it, why the heck did she even get him that? Sakura should have just bought some crappy two-dollar toy from a machine and not ever have to think about it again. She put the box away.

_Truce! That's right! We called a truce and that's why I bought this for him._

However, no matter how much the brunette attempted to convince herself that she was only doing this for the truce that she had sort of made with her principles toward Syaoran, Sakura still felt differently. Her mind was saying 'truce' and her conscience was saying…well… Sakura didn't exactly know. Lately her head had been playing tricks on her and leaving her with endless unsolvable questions.

_What is wrong with me?_

_Am I going crazy…?_

_Or… what?_

_Maybe I'm just a bad person… _

_Maybe I don't want Meilin to be happy…_

_Is that it? _

_Am I just a horrible person?_

_No, Sakura! You're not a bad person. You know yourself and you don't do these kinds of things._

Sakura blinked, knowing her last thoughts were right. She _wasn't_ a bad person; she just didn't want Meilin to get her heart broken over a jerk like Syaoran.

Yeah… That's right! Meilin's going to get her heart broken, and I don't want that to happen!

"Yo! Sakura! Sakura! _Sakura! SAKURA! _SAKURA_-CHAAAAN_!"

"What do you want damn it!" Sakura shouted in irritation at the stupid voice repeatedly shouting her name. The person even used those idiotic formalities.

"Finally got your attention!" Syaoran—the annoying person—stated in exasperation. "Just wanted to say Merry Christmas! Okay! Bye now!"

Sakura mentally thanked whatever higher power there was that the over self-confident man was leaving, until she realized she still needed to give him her present.

"Ahh! Syaoran, wait!" she called in desperation, wanting to get this over with as soon as possible, as she'd done yesterday.

"What? Want to slap me again?" he asked, turning around and winking. "Go ahead, but this time you should aim at my pretty ass!"

Sakura rolled her eyes at his comment, and then motioned for him to come back over since she needed to save her strength if he were to start up one of those pointless conversations again. He understood and plopped down on the couch beside her.

"I've got something for you," Sakura told him uneasily, still, for whatever reason, nervous about his thoughts on her gift.

"Uh… Okay… You mean like a Christmas present?" he questioned her, gazing into her eyes.

"Yeah…" she answered, trailing off as her eyes were caught in his. It felt like she couldn't look away, like she was trapped in those amber orbs.

"TOMOYO!"

Sakura snapped her head around to see what was making that noise. She was so glad that had happened or she thought she would've stared at him forever.

"ERIOL!"

Such a touching reunion of Tomoyo and Eriol, who probably hadn't seen each other for ten minutes. They, unsurprising, embraced and immediately locked lips for what would be an absurd amount of time.

"Will they ever stop?" she asked nobody in particular.

"No, but we can do that too so that we can pass time!" Syaoran inquired cheerfully.

"I prefer the sport of you lying down and me jumping on your crotch," Sakura retorted, her quick mind zapping into action.

"If you want me to suffer, you could always strip for me," he shot back, still looking at the couple making-out.

"Only in your dirty dreams."

"Are you saying I'll have to clean them?"

"Like you're pure enough for that,"

"And you're the most innocent cherry blossom alive!"

Sakura snorted.

"At least more than _you_."

"Are you saying you've got a naughty mind? Ah, every dream must be about me."

"Yeah, they're about me torturing you."

"Using the method of stripping? Ooh! Bad, bad Sakura!"

She groaned and slammed her face into her hands. Did the guy _ever_ give up? Another battle lost to him! This was _so_ not working out the way she wanted things to. Ha! What a truce!

"So… What did you want to give me again?" he asked plainly.

"Give you…? What would I ever give _you_?" Sakura asked back in disbelief.

"You said you had a Christmas gift of some sort," Syaoran replied calmly.

Gift… Christmas… RIGHT! The Secret Santa present!

"Oh yeah! I'm your um… Secret Santa…" she mumbled, pulling out the box that held his gift. She became nervous again.

"Aww! Sakura's so adorable! Worried that I won't like her gift?" he cooed, softly taking the box from her.

He opened it and raised an eyebrow.

"A necklace? Not exactly a guy thing, just so you know," he informed her, holding up the cute little star necklace in front of him.

"Idiot!" she snapped angrily. "It's for you to give to a special 'someone!'"

He might've not known, but she was hinting for him to give it Meilin. Surely he'd like a gift his girlfriend would like.

"Uh… Okay, thanks I guess…" he thanked her in uncertainty. "It's… nice?"

"God damn it! Give it to your girlfriend! She likes jewelry!" she yelled in frustration.

"Woah, there Sakura! I don't have a girlfriend," he replied, backing up a little.

"What about Meilin?" Sakura question him in fury, standing up.

"I went on a date with her! That doesn't mean she's my girlfriend!" Syaoran shouted in a matter-of-factly tone of voice that was now rising. He mimicked her movement.

"So you're telling me that all my efforts were for nothing?" she almost screamed, but didn't for the sake of people in the room. She didn't want to be stared at.

"What the hell kind of efforts?" the brown-haired man roared, his eyes filled with rage.

In that one second, Sakura thought about many things. Why was he getting angry? He was a smooth guy and could easily ignore a small assumption from anyone. Why was she feeling like she wanted to cry? So what if the guy was angry and practically yelling at her? At _least_ nobody was staring because the room was so noisy. Was Meilin in here? That question could be answered, as the girl whom rarely washed her laundry was in Hokkaido for the rest of Christmas. That second then ended.

"Every kind of effort you ass! I've tried to be nice to you even though I _cannot_ stand your very presence! I've tried to talk to you, and I have talked to you more than I ever have in years! I've tried to tolerate your pathetic attempts to flirt with girls all the time! I'm putting in so much damn effort, and this is what I get!" she shrieked, barely caring if people were looking anymore.

"You call _that_ effort? Do you recall _slapping_ me? Oho! That's _great_ effort!" Syaoran threw back sarcastically.

"Yeah, well I was just trying to keep a promise I made! Too bad I made it or I could punch your ass to hell!" Sakura cried in pure resentment.

"What kind of promise? One where you slap me?"

"No! A promise that includes people's feelings!"

"Like trying to hurt mine? I'm human too!"

"Well I'm talking about romantic feelings! Don't you know how Meilin feels?!"

"No, _tell _me how she feels!"

"She's got a huge crush on you, for whatever stupid reason why!"

"Well I _don't_ have the same feelings for her, and you can tell her that!"

"How?! How do I tell her tell her something like that?!"

"You can tell her I have those feelings for someone else!"

"LIKE WHO?" Sakura screamed, anger burning in her body.

"YOU!" Syaoran screamed back as he pulled her forward and pressed his lips against hers.

Sakura felt her body go numb. She could barely think. What was happening? She had no idea what was happening, but…it just…felt so good, so right! There were a million sensations buzzing through her body right now.

_What about Meilin?_

No, Meilin. What was she doing? Sakura was _kissing_ Syaoran. Syaoran was _kissing _Sakura. It was so wrong, but it felt so right. But, what _about_ Meilin? She'd promised her that she would stand out of the navy-haired woman's way. Look at her now. Sakura was another roadblock when she'd promised she wouldn't be one.

_This is so wrong…_

_I have to… I have to stop this!_

With all the strength her will power could summon, Sakura pushed Syaoran away from her, breaking the kiss. She stepped back.

"Sakura?" he asked gently, coming to her and caringly putting a hand on her arm.

"Stop!" Sakura commanded, smacking Syaoran's hand away from her. "Just…just stop…"

"Wha… Sakura, what's wrong?" Syaoran question her quietly, this time not laying a hand on her.

"Please…" she sobbed, tears now streaming down her cheeks. "Don't… Just…don't…"

He gazed at her quietly as she grabbed scarf and jacket. Still crying, Sakura ran out the door and didn't look back.

* * *

**Author's Note: **Well, how did you like it? Strange drama much? Anyway if you review enough, I'll put you as a character in my story since I'll need some later. I've already got chapters 4 & 5 done, so if you guys review more, I'll update sooner! Please review! 

HAPPY NEW YEAR!


	4. Plans Always go so Wrong

**Disclaimer:** If you think I own CCS, you're probably high on candy.

**Author's Note: **Hey guys! I've tried to really update fast, but I don't get to go on the internet much and I had other stuff to do, so here's the next chapter. Not as progressive as the last couple, but it's still sort of fun. Don't worry about how fast everything's going, we're nowhere near over.

**To the Reviewers: **Oh beautiful, dearest reviewers! I cannot believe how many I got for the last chapter! It was more than my first two combined! I give you all thanks from the bottom of my heart and I hope you enjoy this chapter. Please all review again!

* * *

**Chapter 4 – Plans Always go so Wrong **

Sakura slammed the door shut, relaxing her back behind it and slid down to the ground. She _could not_ handle this right now. Oh, if Meilin _ever_ knew! The happy navy-haired woman would be floored! Gosh, how did she ever get into this in the first place? Everything had been going fine until Meilin had asked for her help.

_Sakura, what did you get yourself into?_

Why in the world were relationships so complicated? What did she do to deserve this? Okay… so maybe she _did_ accidentally kiss him, but that part wasn't her fault. Sakura hadn't tried to kiss him, nor had she tried to seduce him into kissing her. So, why did she feel so guilty? She'd even stopped the kissing, no matter how much she had liked—

_No, that's not why! Please tell me that's not why!_

Syaoran had kissed her, and even if she was the one who stopped it, she was also the one who enjoyed it.

And it was so true. In the midst of all of it, the amber-eyed boy had admitted that he had a crush on her. Knowing this released a warm and fuzzy feeling within her, making her feel even guiltier.

Sakura's eyes were red with tears. This wasn't supposed to be happening. She was supposed to be the heroine who would set up Syaoran and Meilin, they'd go on a date, Syaoran would realize his feelings for Meilin and go off having a hot and steamy night.

But no. That wasn't going to occur anytime soon apparently. And all of this had taken place in a matter of a few days. How perfect.

Sakura was exhausted and didn't want to think about anything at the moment. She pulled the jacket she held over herself and closed her eyes. She fell into a deep sleep and dreamt she was laughing with her friends in the days before things became so very complicated.

-

When Sakura finally awoke, she felt her back paying the consequences that she took by sleeping on the floor behind the door. She groaned as she stood up shakily, her legs sore from being bent all night. Yesterday was certainly not a good idea.

"We wish you a Merry Christmas and a happy New Year!"

Sakura fervently wished she could punch the carolers outside for being so loud. Then again, she wouldn't really want to be punched by herself since the pain would be excruciating. After all, Sakura already felt like she'd been put in a little box where she would have to scrunch up into to fit inside.

Mentally scolding herself for doing such a dumb thing last night, Sakura put away her belongings and decided to take a nice bath. That would make her troubles leave and she really wasn't in the mood to deal with all the problems that would arise the next time she saw Syaoran—or worse, Meilin.

-

After her scorching hot bath, Sakura felt at least a little better about the kissing incident. It was Christmas after all and she shouldn't be feeling down on this day.

_What should I do on this eh…wonderful Christmas day?_

Tomoyo was with Eriol today and Meilin would be in Hokkaido with her family, apparently eating crabs and having a good time.

_What to do, what to do?_

Fortunately, Sakura wouldn't have to answer that question because just then, the doorbell rang loudly.

"Coming!" she called walking to the front door.

_I wonder who that could be?_

She peered through the peeking hole. For all she knew, there could be a guy with a gun out there—or worse!

Sadly, it was worse.

Sakura involuntarily stepped backwards. That's it! Christmas was officially ruined.

"Sakura?" the person asked. "You coming or what?"

"What are you even _doing_ here?" she demanded to the person through the door.

"It's Christmas! Besides, I only wanted to talk!"

"Fine, but talk only or I'll shove a broom up your ass!" Sakura threatened, hesitantly undoing the lock.

"I'd rather not think about that," they replied in intimidation.

She opened the door, quite unsure of what to do next. Sakura stared at the person standing in front of her.

"Um… Come in I guess," she suggested, offering the person the warmth of her home.

"Thanks…" they murmured, coming inside, taking up her offer.

-

Settling in the living room, finally, Sakura sat next to her visitor on a couch. This was going to be so awkward.

"So, Syaoran, what brings you _here_ in this exact and specific place?" she questioned the human next to her.

"I just… I just wanted to talk about the uh… stuff that happened yesterday, at the party…" Syaoran answered, nervously scratching the back of his neck and looking off into nowhere.

"Look, just forget about it, okay?" Sakura told him, disappointed that he'd brought up the subject. She was planning for this day to _not_ be about it.

"But my actions were very… uh… very inappropriate, Sakura. I'm sorry I yelled and I'm sorry I…well; you know… I guess I was just kind of caught up in the moment…" he apologized sincerely.

Sakura muffled a laugh on her sweater's sleeve.

"Eh… What's so funny?" Syaoran asked her, shooting her a confused look.

"_The _Syaoran Li is apologizing!" Sakura broke out in laughter. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I just thought I'd never see the day!"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," he grumbled, annoyed that Sakura had beat him at his own game.

"Woohoo! Score: 3-1. I'm catching up!" she exclaimed with glee.

"Right…"

"Alrighty! Merry Christmas! Now that we've sorted that out you can _leave_!" Sakura said as she pointed at the door.

"What? Expecting someone?" Syaoran asked, grinning that grin of his.

"No, but-"

"No? Me neither! Nobody wants to spend Christmas alone so let's spend it together, yes?"

Sakura laughed some more. Never did she think that she would be having _fun_ with the guy with the giant ego, let alone spending _Christmas_ with him! This was turning out to be a really strange week.

-

An hour had passed as the two passed time playing childish and stupid games. Luckily, It was pretty fun and entertaining.

"Is it pretty?" Syaoran asked.

"Yes," Sakura responded to the yes or no question.

"Is it smooth?"

"…Yes,"

"Is it my ass?"

"Syaoran!"

"What? It's a yes or no question! And it's a perfectly logical guess!"

"Well then no!"

"Then what is it? That was my twentieth question!"

"A petal!"

"How unoriginal!"

"Then you think of something!"

-

"Is it red?"

"Nope!" Syaoran replied while staring at the ceiling.

"Is it green?"

"Yep,"

"Is it my necklace? Twentieth, by the way,"

"No,"

"What is it?"

"Your eyes…"

"Are you hitting on me?" Sakura questioned her guest incredulously and at the same time was giggling.

"Just trying out the romantic thing, and that is extremely mild flirting," Syaoran explained, still staring at the ceiling.

"Well you suck at it!" she told him as she stuck out her tongue like a kid. "Let's go eat lunch now."

"Ooh! I get to feast with the stunning cherry blossom!" he called over dramatically.

"Save it womanizer," she commanded, rolling her eyes. "Where do you want to eat? You're paying!"

"I beg to differ, why not eat here? I want to see Ms. Kinomoto work the kitchen!" Syaoran announced joyfully.

"W-what? No way! I-I won't cook! Especially for you!" she retorted in uncertainty. Oh, if Syaoran ever knew, that would be the end of her. Sakura would never hear the end of it.

Syaoran looked at her thoughtfully, squinting his eyes in concentration. His hand moved to his chin in a thinking position. Sakura shifted nervously under his gaze. What in the world was this dude doing? They sat in deathly silence for almost half a minute before Syaoran's face slid into a grin.

"Ha ha! _That's_ what you're scared of? You don't want me to know that you don't know how to cook!" he howled, falling over in hysterics.

"Shut up! Shut up!" Sakura shouted, tackling her nemesis as her close to worst nightmare was appearing before her very eyes.

"Whoa! You're heavy Kinomoto! What have you been eating?" he asked through fits of laughter.

"What the heck! _Shut up_ Syaoran Li!" she ordered giving Syaoran a few playful punches on the arm, still using enough strength to at least hurt him a little.

"Okay, okay! _I'll_ cook, alright?" he told her, softly pushing her off of himself.

"Why the change of heart?" Sakura inquired, cautiously retreating to her own side of the sofa.

"I just don't want you burning the house down," Syaoran answered wittily.

"Y-you!"

Before Sakura could get to him, Syaoran was already sneaking into the kitchen to find a shield.

-

Sakura lay on the sofa, lazily reading a magazine as the 'expert' chef worked his magic in the kitchen. How embarrassing. Even _Syaoran_ knew how to cook! Talk about the end of the world! The last time Sakura had cooked instant noodles, she had boiled them to death and the water had overflowed. She honestly needed some cooking lessons.

But enough about cooking. The whole picture was scary for Sakura. Syaoran was being nice… kind of, and she was laughing at his comments. She must've been dreaming or the world would be exploding right now.

_This is **so** not right…_

_But then… what's that smell?_

"Yo! Sakura! Lunch is up!" a voice called from the kitchen.

"Yeah, coming," she replied, putting down the magazine which she really hadn't been reading. "Jeez, you sound like my dad."

Sakura entered the kitchen to see Syaoran putting down a plate of rice balls in the middle of the table. _That_ was his masterpiece? She wasn't impressed.

"This is what you made?" she asked as one of her eyebrows rose. "I was expecting more."

Syaoran shrugged. "It's a simple recipe and it's a quick preparation. Not to mention very tasty."

He grabbed a rice ball and bit into it, chewing in delight.

"Yeah… rice balls are…clever…" she observed, taking one of her own edible round items.

"Yes, onigiri. There's filling in the center," Syaoran explained after swallowing, now taking another bite.

"It's good," Sakura complimented as she ate some more, "for some cheap rice balls that is…"

"Don't eat so much, or you'll get heavier."

"Syaoran!"

-

Two grown people intensely stared at the pile of cards in the middle of the table. Syaoran put down an ace of hearts. Beating the high card, Sakura threw down an ace of spades. He placed a two of clubs on top while she set the big two over his two.

"Damn," he cursed, seeing the highest card over his.

Sakura smirked. She was so close to winning what was probably their thirty-seventh game of Big Two.

"You can't beat me Syaoran," she taunted over confidently. "Just give up."

"Never, my little, pink cherry blossom!" Syaoran tossed back at her.

And that line hit her.

Sakura dropped her cards as her lower lip quivered.

**Flashback**

"Lei!" Sakura called sweetly, running over to her boyfriend and curling up in his lap.

"There you are Sakura," he said, tenderly stroking her hair. "I was looking for you."

She giggled, hugging him closer than before. "Well here I am."

They were over at Lei's house where they could cuddle together endlessly. Sakura loved the way he would caress her hair and stayed in his lap for several minutes.

"Lei?"

"Yes Sakura?"

"You won't leave me, will you?"

"Never, my little, pink cherry blossom."

**End Flashback**

Why? Why did he just have to say that? Old memories had been shut out from her mind, but why did he have to say things that would make the pain come back? Sakura knew Syaoran didn't mean to do anything, but knowing that didn't make it hurt any less.

"Sakura? You okay?" Syaoran asked in concern.

"I-I… You should leave, Syaoran," she told him, biting her lip to keep her tears from falling.

"No, seriously Sakura, what's up?" he pushed gently.

"Just…go Syaoran…" Sakura whispered, a sob impatiently waiting to get out.

He nodded, and without another word, Syaoran left.

And Sakura broke down into tears.

* * *

**Author's Note:** Okay, I know it's short, but writing this chapter was really hard, okay? I didn't even like it much. But, I like chapter 5 more than this one, so if you review lots, you might get it soon!

Anonymous reviewers are now allowed because I forgot to enable it when I started this account. I realized this a few seconds after updating chapter 3, so feel free to review now!

Please review!


	5. When it All Falls Down

**Disclaimer:** I don't own CCS, I don't own CCS, I don't own CCS…

**Author's Note: **I know that this chapter is highly unsuitable for this time of year, but does it look like I care anymore since the Christmas chapters? Eh, it's just a short time skip.

**To the Reviewers: **Well, the amount of reviews was rather depressing which in turn, made me lazier and so I didn't finish chapter seven very quickly. For those who did read AND review, let me give you another thank you along with thousands of hugs! Sorry for the wait you wondrous people! I hope you like this chapter, because I liked writing it!

* * *

**Chapter 5 – When it all Falls Down**

"Five!"

_How boring…_

"Four!"

_I thought there was more to life…_

"Three!"

_Maybe there is…_

"Two!"

_But it's too hard to figure out…_

"One!"

_Or maybe I just don't wanna find out…_

"HAPPY NEW YEAR!"

_Or maybe I can't find out…_

-

"Good morning, you're watching channel nine news. Here's Suzuki Nozuka."

Sakura opened her eyes, to see the blinding light of the morning sun. She had accidentally left the television on last night while watching a New Year's program. Perfect, her vacation ended today meaning Sakura would have to go to work today, the very thing she'd wanted to avoid ever since Christmas. After that pathetic breakdown she had—the one Syaoran had almost seen, she'd felt so guilty for making him leave like that.

And then there was that issue with Meilin. Sakura spent most of Christmas with her friend's soon-to-be boyfriend. That was only part of it. What in the world would Sakura do if Meilin found out that Syaoran kissed her? For now, she could hope that Meilin didn't find out and she could continue to be the 'good friend,' which she really wanted to be.

How about Tomoyo? Sakura had made a big deal about her and Eriol doing Christmas day together, then on the day _after_ Christmas, Sakura had phoned and told her best friend not to come over using a lousy excuse. In fact, Tomoyo had probably phoned her at least twenty times after that and she didn't answer the phone, not wanting to explain herself. The woman had even come to her house seeking the answer to Sakura's bizarre behavior. Even then Sakura hadn't answered the door, pretending she wasn't home. It really did feel better to be secluded from the world and not have to deal with your problems.

_I may be running away, but it's for the best._

_Everything will be solved with me not in the picture._

"Happy New Year, everyone. I'm Suzuki Nozuka reporting this morning and it's January first today. Everyone is celebrating."

_Not me, definitely not me._

Jeez, how long had that stupid T.V. been on? What a waste of precious electricity! That was so going to eat up her paycheck.

Without another thought, Sakura rolled out of bed and rubbed her eyes groggily, switching the T.V. off. As she began her regular routine before work, she heard the phone ring. She didn't bother to answer it, as it was probably Tomoyo anyway, trying to get her to respond. Sakura entered the bathroom, hurriedly combing her hair. It was a bit late, and she didn't want to be late for work, especially because when she first started, she was always late. That led her to a little fiasco with her boss. She heard her answering machine click on.

"Hey Sakura, it's Tomoyo. I know that you're not answering on purpose but it's the first day off of holidays today and I just wanted to remind you incase you forgot. I'm going to work too, so you can't avoid me forever, Sakura. I'm going to be on your case until you spill, got it? Well, see you later, and Happy New Year!" the voice from the machine rambled.

Work was definitely not going to be fun. When Tomoyo was on your case, she didn't give up.

What a great start to the New Year.

-

Sakura glared at the building in front of her. It was like staring death in the face. All those careless actions in the past few weeks would finally spell her doom. Everything would come crashing down unless, hopefully, everyone would just shut up and organize themselves so that everybody could be happy. That, at least, would get her out of this situation she'd gotten herself into. By the gods, she couldn't even control her own actions most of the time, let alone her thoughts! As much as she didn't want to admit it, a lot of the stuff that had played out was _because_ of her actions, even if Sakura was only doing her best to help. She couldn't command the feelings in her heart!

Wow, that was so cheesy… 

Letting a breath escape from her lips, Sakura finally summoned the courage to go inside and get the bad things over with. As quickly as she could possibly go, she slipped inside, slid her card through without acknowledging the secretary, and dashed into her office. She was pretty confident that no person had seen her come in, save the secretary who she often greeted every morning.

Sakura soon found out she was wrong.

"Wait, Sakura," a feminine voice called to her, sounding more bitter than usual.

"Hi, Meilin…" she greeted, smiling weakly.

"There's something I need to ask you about," Meilin told her, stubbornly entering Sakura's room.

"Um…alright," she said as she closed the door, fearing the worst to come.

As soon as the door had been closed the woman that had arrived back from Hokkaido whirled around to her and shot off.

"What happened during the Christmas Eve party?" she asked Sakura, eying her suspiciously.

"W-what are you talking about?" Sakura stuttered back, trying to duck her way out of this although it really wasn't her style.

"Oh come on Sakura! Mizuki told me what she saw that night, and I do believe her!" Meilin replied angrily, slamming her palm on Sakura's desk. "She saw you two kiss. So what is it Sakura? Were you turning your back on me while I was on vacation or were you just _dying_ to get your greedy lips on his?"

Sakura was taken aback by surprise. She was certain that nobody had seen that kiss. She'd even stopped that kiss when she—this was grudgingly hard to admit—had enjoyed that kiss every last second until she broke it. That room seemed too loud for anyone to pay attention to anyone else. Then again, Mizuki, one of the lingerie designers, was one of those Syaoran fan girls.

Sakura decided to take her friend on the offense. "How dare you accuse me trying to kiss Syaoran! _He_ kissed _me_ and was only thanking me for the Secret Santa present I gave him."

"Oh please! You only wanted to get your filthy hands all over _my_ _guy_ just to get to me! You never wanted me to be with him so you took your chances after I put my trust in you. You do realize how pathetic and low that was, don't you?" she blamed in fury.

"Excuse me? I set you two up on a date and this is the treatment I get? You know, that's just great! And sorry if you don't yet know this, but Syaoran is not _your_ _guy_. You can't just go and 'claim' a human being as your own, for your information!" Sakura threw back, feeling the rage building up inside her.

"Yeah? Well you still knew I had a crush on Syaoran and you admitted that you two kissed! How am I supposed to feel about that?" the navy-haired woman yelled in resentment.

"I'm sorry about that, okay Meilin? Things got a little bit out of hand that night, but I stopped the kissing, I really did!" Sakura truthfully apologized, a bit desperately. "It was only a gift!"

"Well, I've got a gift for you Sakura," Meilin growled.

And she slapped Sakura in the face.

Sakura couldn't help but be appalled by what Meilin had just done to her. She could hear the woman standing across from her breathing heavily; she sounded like she was trying to calm her anger. All Sakura could feel was hatred towards the girl who had pointed a finger at her. Yes, she had kissed Syaoran and it was completely an accident. She'd apologized for doing it. Sakura's intentions had always been good, yet there was a person in front of her accusing her of betrayal. She clenched her fists and bit her lip, trying to soothe herself, but it wasn't working. Her cheek stung painfully where Meilin had hit her though Sakura paid it no attention.

"_Get out, you ungrateful bitch,_" Sakura hissed coldly, glaring as if she could pierce holes in the woman. It may have been a bit harsh, but to her, it suited the situation very well.

Meilin did just that.

-

It was about mid-noon when Syaoran came waltzing into her office.

"Sakura? You feeling better today?" he questioned her, leaning over her shoulder.

"Yeah," Sakura sighed, putting down her pencil and laying her head and folded arms on the table wearily. "I'm sorry I made you leave that day, but I was seriously dying."

"No worries!" he told her, shrugging it off. "I can tell when someone's heading for a breakdown."

Syaoran was right again. He must've been like, a magical genie or something.

_An oddly hot magical genie…_

_Ahhh! Bad thought, bad thought! _

_STOP IT SAKURA!_

Sakura shook her head as she sat upright.

"Can you like, read minds or something? You know _everything_!" she said in disbelief.

"It's true, I _do_ know everything!"

"Don't get cocky now! You may know everything, but you're not exactly easy on the eyes."

"Yes, I do in fact have a very complex and sexy structure. It's too hard for some people to process. For example, idiotic people like you!"

"Okay, okay, you win," Sakura replied, giving up to that last clever comment.

Syaoran grinned, but then quickly stopped. "Did you have a fight with Meilin this morning?"

Sakura winced. She still felt extremely pissed off about that, but what was she supposed to do about Syaoran's mysterious mind reading ways? She could feel his eyes lingering on her, waiting for an answer quietly. Honestly, Sakura didn't have to do anything for Meilin anymore after that argument, but she still felt compelled to keep her promise. She wasn't going to apologize since she already had, so Sakura would only stay out of the girl's way and step aside.

Sakura sighed. "Syaoran, will you _please_ stop using your evil mind reading powers on me?"

"Aw, but I was just tryin'ta help!" he whined, visibly making a pouting face.

"Trust me," Sakura told him, making eye contact, "the last thing you want to do is get involved, especially _because_ it's you."

"Okay, I've got a feeling I know what's going on, so I'll avoid this cat fight," Syaoran said, waltzing out just as he had in.

-

The end of the day came so slowly that Sakura thought she'd flipped her now rarely used sketching pencil, about three hundred times. She had no ideas on what to design today. Her mind was totally elsewhere and so barely any work had gotten done. Luckily, Sakura had wasted enough time staring at the walls absentmindedly to complete some topics she had to think about and to pass the extremely generous, time-giving clock. Every two minutes she would check her watch to see what time it was, only to find that only half a minute had gone by, not two minutes, as it seemed.

And finally the hell she was in ended although the next one seemed to follow right after. At last, she was able to go home and escape the issues that were now upon her! But then Sakura remembered what was to happen next. She'd have to get away before Tomoyo got hold her. After all, Tomoyo was always too busy in the mornings to find her, either sleeping late or doing 'something' with her boyfriend.

After quickly gathering her things, Sakura peeked out of her office to see if Tomoyo was around. Nope, it was all clear. The back of her mind told her that this was stupid; to go face her problems or she'd have to do this everyday. How painful, to do this exact routine everyday. Sakura refused to give in though because she'd promised something and she wanted to keep it.

The way was apparently clear of the trap, or so she thought. The moment Sakura stepped through the doorway, a pair of hands met her shoulders.

"You aren't going anywhere until you give me a proper explanation of everything," the owner of the hands demanded.

"I-I…" she stammered uneasily.

Pulling Sakura by the hand, Tomoyo dragged her confused friend into the office Sakura had just exited and shut the door.

"You are going to tell me _everything_," Tomoyo commanded, giving her friend a stern look.

"I-I am?" she asked dumbly.

"Yes, you definitely are, and if you don't, I've got all night to get it out of you!" she informed her.

Sakura knew she could trust Tomoyo for things like this. Meilin was a friend, but Tomoyo was the best friend. The thing was, she didn't know whether Tomoyo would understand or not. Sure, she could keep a secret, but how was this supposed to work. Sakura briefly considered lying to her best friend, but that would be breaking a promise since she'd sworn to Tomoyo to never lie to her. She was already on the road to break another one.

Sakura spilled her whole story to the longhaired woman who listened intently, thinking of solutions along the way. However, Sakura did not share her feelings on the subject, knowing it was very… difficult to understand. She herself didn't recognize what she was feeling.

"And that's what happened in my argument with Meilin," Sakura finished, taking in a deep breath.

Tomoyo was silent for a bit, then replied, "You like him."

"_W-what?_" Sakura spluttered incredulously. "No way!"

The suggestion was still ringing in her head when her best friend sighed. "Never mind then,"

-

After Tomoyo had left, Sakura sat in her office thinking. She needed space or something like that. It was as if all her problems were closing in on her and even Tomoyo couldn't help. She didn't even want to start about Syaoran. This whole thing was happening _because_ of the super sexy and hot guy. If he could just disappear off the Earth (though it would be a horrible waste of hotness), everything would be solved. She and Meilin would be friends again, Sakura wouldn't be all confused with herself as she was now, and Meilin could just look for some other hot guy around.

_There's only one solution._

If I'm going to keep my promise, stand aside for Meilin no matter how much she's pissing me off right now, I'm going to have to do this.

Sakura then left her office and was ready to go home, but that's not where she was headed. Approaching her creep but nice boss's door, she summoned what courage she had. On the door Sakura knocked.

"Who is it?" the voice asked, sounding quite neutral as it floated through the wood in front of her.

"Sakura Kinomoto," she reported almost shakily, "I need to talk to you."

"Come in," her boss replied.

Sakura turned the knob and stepped inside.

* * *

**Author's Note:** Well, I made this chapter a little longer to make up for the last two chapters' shortness although they were both over 2000 words like I said I'd write. The more reviews, the faster I'll update. Remember friends, I NEED characters for the story, so I'll put you in depending on your reviews unless no one reviews and then I'll make my own. PLEASE GIVE ME SOME NAMES PEOPLE! 

Also, please, oh please review!


	6. Persuasion: Failure or Success? Pt1

**Disclaimer: **No, no! I don't own! I do however, own the beautiful and violent boss!

**Author's Note:** Hey guys! Have I got something for you! This chapter will _finally_ show some of Syaoran's feelings! Except you probably kinda already know how he feels... Eh... Aren't you just dying to read?

**To the Reviewers:** Wowie! Now those reviews were SATISFYING! That hit the spot! A million from-the-bottom-of-my-heart thank yous and hugs along with them! I'm deeply sorry for not updating sooner, but I was working on a Valentines Day oneshot so this story had to wait a bit. However, I they're both up now and so you get double Sakura and Syaoran action! Besides, this chapter is _much_ longer than the others! Okay, then! Read and review please!

* * *

**Chapter 6 – Persuasion: Failure or Success? Pt 1**

Sakura turned the knob and stepped inside.

"Please, Sakura," her boss greeted, not bothering to look up from her paperwork. "Take a seat."

Nodding, Sakura walked forward and placed herself on the seat in front of the desk where her boss sat. She felt a bit nervous. If her boss wouldn't agree to this, she didn't know what she'd do after that.

The woman finally pulled her eyes away from the stacks of sheets to look at the younger lady that was sitting patiently. She tossed her pen down and adjusted herself hastily. It wasn't that Sakura's boss was intimidating looking, with her silky, jet-black hair neatly tied into a ponytail, but the fact that her temper could be horrible if you provoked her even a little.

"Tell me, dear employee, why are you here?" the dark-haired woman asked lazily.

"Er… Sakaki-sama, I have a request…" Sakura replied, avoiding eye contact with her superior.

"Go on," Sakaki encouraged, though still not looking too enthusiastic.

"I would like to be transferred," she told the bored looking female.

"Transferred? To another office?" asked the bored looking female, now looking more like she was paying attention.

"A-another building please, S-sakaki-sama," Sakura corrected, slightly stumbling over her words.

"And why would I authorize that? There's no reason for you to leave. Besides, I would not want to lose such a talented designer," Sakaki reasoned as she sat up straight.

"W-well… I heard some of the other locations might need some guidance, and I thought that I could be useful in that situation," she explained logically. These were not even close to her reasons and lying to her boss somehow seemed to sound better.

Sakaki laughed then, slamming her fist on her work desk. A few papers went flying as Sakura winced at the impact.

"You think I'm stupid Kinomoto?" the woman laughed as she turned to the window. "Do you think that I don't know what happens in the office? About your little wrestle with the slutty girl?"

Sakura knew she was talking about Meilin just then and blushed, embarrassed that the boss was making a fool out of her.

"These are not your real reasons Sakura, so give me the truth and I won't be angry," Sakaki ordered, leaning back on her chair.

She was mildly shaken as she'd just been informed that the boss really_ was_ the boss, and saw everything people didn't want her to see. Lying some more was almost the first option along with telling the truth.

_It's too weird…_

"With all due respect, Sakaki-sama, I was telling the truth," Sakura lied again, feeling too awkward to even try to talk about it with her boss.

Sakaki laughed again, smirking at the young woman's lie. "Alright then, Sakura. I'll accept that you feel too strange talking about it with your boss, but I must warn you. If you do make this transfer, it will be next to impossible to get a transfer back. Fill out these sheets and return them to me," she told Sakura as she handed her a stapled mini book.

"Yes, Sakaki-sama," she obeyed, hurriedly filling out the papers. "Thank you."

Sakura stood up to leave, but was suddenly stopped by a voice, if only for a moment.

"You're letting love beat you Kinomoto,"

"Sakaki-sama…?"

"Go, leave,"

Sakura obeyed, wondering what the usually angry boss was talking about as she walked out the door.

**-**

Arriving extra early the next morning, Sakura hauled in a large cardboard box, although not big enough for to collapse under if it was to be filled. It was hard for her accept that it even _would_ be filled, for the greater good of course. She'd be able to fix her friendship with Meilin after this and everything would be great.

_Except… I'd be gone…_

She already loved it so much, so how could she even bear to leave it? Lying to herself was completely useless. However how many times she tried to convince herself, it was done badly. Sakura could not persuade her mind to think otherwise, and that was a cold, hard fact.

Shoving the hollow box under her desk, Sakura wondered if she should go and see Sakaki today. It was a good idea to transfer without telling other people, as things could become a little crazy. For all she knew, Tomoyo might go on a killing spree or something extreme like that. Her brain easily processed the idea of Tomoyo raging at her since it was common when Sakura didn't tell her best friend something important immediately.

Then the door swung open.

_Don't some people knock?_

"Kinomoto," Sakaki, the person who opened the door, said in greeting, "I've got your transfer."

"Y-you did?" Sakura asked, surprised that it had only been one night. She could feel her heart beating wildly, impatiently begging for an answer.

"Pack your things today, you're leaving for Kawasaki in two days," the creepy boss informed her. "Tomorrow will be your last day here."

Sakura only nodded. It wasn't a happy nod of excitement though; it was one that was disappointed and angry. Had Sakaki _wanted_ to be rid of her? Today and tomorrow at work were hardly enough time to say all her goodbyes. Then again, she didn't want people to know she was leaving, did she? Still, if felt as if her boss was _trying_ to get rid of her and that made her feel so unwanted… But maybe…Sakura really _was_ unwanted at work. Was it possible that Sakaki was thinking the exact same image as her in her head? Did the often-angry woman think that disposing her from the picture would fix everything?

_Why is this happening to me? Why do I have to leave Tokyo and everything that's important to me?_

_But…what **is** important to me?_

She certainly didn't want to sell her house. Sakura was totally in _love_ with that thing and so she promptly decided that she would get her older brother, Touya, to take care of it. Besides, her father lived in Kawasaki and she knew that it would be close to a designer's office.

Pulling the box out from under her desk, Sakura began to pack her belongings away. She, kneeling down, started clearing out her drawers, which she had twelve of, and thought that there was _way_ too many drawers in her office. She was beginning on her third storage drawer when the door creaked open yet again.

"Yes Sakaki-sama?" she answered, assuming it was her boss as it was still quite early.

"Hey! I'm not the boss! Just your hot dream guy!" her 'boss' replied, sarcastically taking offence.

_Syaoran…? It was Syaoran!_

_Oh no! Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh!_

Sakura squealed, reeling over in fright. Her office guest looked directly at her for an explanation, clearly very puzzled. She scratched her head and laughed nervously, looking up at him from the floor.

"What are you doing, Sakura?" Syaoran asked slowly as his gaze turned to the mess of her office.

"I'm…uh…reorganizing?" she countered pathetically, silently praying that he was stupid today.

"With a box?" he shot right back with the third question in a row.

"I'm just…just bringing some stuff home, alright Syaoran?" Sakura told him, hoping he would buy it although her confidence in that particular thing was faltering.

"Uh… Yeah, okay… See you later then Sakura, I guess…" he said, exiting the room. Syaoran didn't at all look satisfied with her answer.

Sakura sighed, lying down on the carpet that had been recently cleaned, in the mess of her belongings on the floor. It was one tough day after another, and one day she was going to just crack.

-

"I want answers and I want them now," Syaoran demanded angrily, bursting through the door of his boss.

"You asshole for an employee! Learn how to knock or yelling isn't going to be all you're getting!" Sakaki lectured rather rudely and loudly, glaring at the trespassing man.

"Whatever! Just tell me, what's with Sakura?" he asked frantically, afraid of what was suddenly going on.

"YOU SHUT UP! WHAT MAKES YOU THINK THAT YOU CAN JUST BARGE INTO MY OFFICE WITHOUT WARNING AND DEMAND ANSWERS FROM ME?" the now angry bossed screamed as she stood up from her chair, slamming her hands on the almost broken desk.

Syaoran quickly ceased his fuming and quietly sat down in a chair, mumbling, "Sorry Sakaki-sama…"

"What was that?"

"Sorry Sakaki-sama,"

"One more time?"

"I'm sorry Sakaki-sama!"

"That's better you noisy nuisance, now tell me what you need to know and hurry up before I change my mind," Sakaki murmured who was currently inspecting her manicured nails.

"Where is Sakura going?" he asked, feeling exceedingly sorry for the person that had done his boss's nails. They were probably scarred for life after their encounter with the death bringer, being screamed at over and over again that her nails could be better.

Sakaki smirked and looked off into another direction, leaving her nail inspection for another time. "Why don't you say Sakura-_Chan_? Huh? Everyone knows that you're so infatuated with the darling cherry blossom!"

"Aw, cut the crap! I came here for an answer, not suggestions on how I speak," Syaoran growled in annoyance.

"I wouldn't talk to my boss like that if I were you. She's indeed capable of many things, like such things as firing you!" the death bringer with inhuman strength teased.

"This is a total waste of time," he spat bitterly, wondering why in the world he'd decided to get answers from _here_.

"Okay then, my dear Syaoran! I'll give you an answer now," Sakaki told him, figuring that fun time was over. "Sakura's being transferred."

"_What?_" he asked in disbelief, snapping his head straight towards his superior. "Please tell me you're kidding,"

"No, I'm not," Sakaki said seriously, shaking her head.

"Y-you can't! You can't just let her go!" Syaoran yelled, doubting that this could ever be true. "Why? Why are you letting her go?"

"It was her request, not mine."

Sakura's request? Sakura had _suggested this transfer_? Was she absolutely _insane_? Syaoran would die without her! He would die of boredom and anger with himself for not getting to the point where he was now, earlier. At first, it was like a little crush that boys and girls had in school. Then it proceeded to grow as he teased her, making fun of her because she was only paying attention to him when he did. Now look at him. Sakura was finally starting to let him in and then she went and suggested to be _transferred_?

_No! It can't end this way! _

_I've got to convince Sakaki to stop that order!_

"Please Sakaki-sama! Don't let her go!" Syaoran pleaded with worry written across his face. He was panicking so much right then.

"I can't, Syaoran, I'm sorry…" the usually not apologizing boss sincerely apologized. The guy looked so sad it really felt like it was her heart that was breaking. Sakaki couldn't figure out what to do; she felt deep pity for the guy whose heart was in the process of breaking. She couldn't believe she was going to do this. "…But there is one way, I suppose, that I could pull back the order."

"Seriously?" Syaoran asked as a bit of hope sparked up within him.

"Yeah…" Sakaki replied, praying she was making the right decision.

"Tell me, please Sakaki-sama! What can I do?" he asked, eager to help.

"I'll pull back the order if Sakura were to change her mind. She's leaving in two days."

-

What would Syaoran do? Sakura knew that the guy had gone _somewhere_ and she was afraid that he'd somehow find out about her plans. She wanted this to be done as quietly as possible, and right now it looked fine.

Her packing had gone so slowly that it took her almost an hour to clear out one drawer, and that was a long time. Sakura's mind had continued to wander off onto other subjects, which left her to be thinking about other things while idiotically sitting in a pile of objects that she owned. Her mind almost got onto the topic of how stupid she would look if someone walked into the room right then.

She must have jinxed it because somebody did.

"Don't go," a mysterious yet familiar voice told her as her door flew open.

"Excuse me?" she asked the person, already sure of whom it was.

"You can't go," they repeated again, no emotion showing in their voice.

"What are you talking about?" Sakura asked as she whirled around to face the man at the door.

"You can't go to Kawasaki," he told her, looking at her seriously. "You can't just…just leave everyone here."

"I'm not going anywhere, Syaoran," she shot back, throwing the lie about like it didn't matter anymore.

"Quit lying Sakura. You're not convincing anyone, including yourself," Syaoran replied with some unknown emotions in his voice this time.

"Why are you bothering me?" Sakura snapped, glaring at the guy she couldn't figure out. "You have no right to tell me what to do, even when I'm not doing anything."

"Stop it," he growled angrily this time, "because you know exactly what I'm talking about and you can't fool me."

She didn't understand. How could Syaoran know? Sure, he was really an expert on figuring out things, but _this_? What was with him? Why did he just have to bud into things every single time? It was like everything she did, Syaoran was there to meddle. That was exactly what he was. He was an annoying little meddler who always tried to stick their nose into other peoples businesses.

_Would he just shut up and leave me alone?_

"What is your problem? Why do you care so much?" Sakura shouted at the so-called 'meddler.'

"I do, okay…? I just _do_ care…" he offered although his answer wasn't really one.

"No, you give me a straight out answer right now, or you have no right to be here," she pointed out, not giving in this time.

"Fine… Do you know how I'm always taunting you, teasing you with just the slightest little comment?" Syaoran asked, looking away.

"Yeah…"

"Well, I guess I do that to make you angry. I know it'll happen because it always does, and I like it," he admitted rather shamefully.

Sakura felt like punching him right then. He had done that on _purpose_? Syaoran had caused her so much stress that steam practically flew out of her head all the time. He'd even _liked_ it while doing it to her. It was so unfair. He was all happy while she was super pissed.

"It makes me happy when you're mad because…well, you actually pay attention to me," he continued still a bit shamefully, "and all other times it's like I'm totally blocked out of your head. It's stupid and annoying, I know…but…it's the only option I had. And look now; I'm actually a _person_ in your eyes now! Maybe that's why I care."

At the confession, Sakura's anger was calmed a bit and left her feeling a little guilty. It was true that she'd tried every possible thing before, to avoid talking to Syaoran and so she would only yell at him when irritated.

_Did I really hate him that much? No, I didn't… I just didn't want to like him…_

_Because everyone else did…_

"I'm sorry," she apologized, dodging any kind of eye contact he was trying to make, "but thank you for being honest Syaoran."

"Yeah, I've done my part," he agreed bitterly, not bothering to try for eye contact. "What about you Sakura? I've been honest, now you should be too."

Her insides shuddered at the comment. Be truthful? It was hard because she'd been lying for most of the morning. It was afternoon now, and many people had arrived, but they didn't know anything. This was between two people. Sakura and Syaoran.

_What can I do to make him believe me?_

"I'm being transferred on the day after tomorrow," Sakura explained softly as she cradled her legs in her arms. She wasn't going to resort to lying…yet.

"I know, but tell me why Sakura! You love it here, and you can't deny it! So why would you _ever_ request a transfer?" Syaoran asked sensibly.

Yes, he had definitely gone to see Sakaki.

"Because I'm trapped!" she exploded, tears now scaling her eyes. "And I've got to get out because maybe then everything'll be okay!"

"Then why are you running away? It's not going to solve anything," Syaoran told her quietly, trying to ignore the tears that were escaping her eyes even though it was killing him. "It's stupid to think like that."

"And _who_ _are you_ to judge me, huh? I'm leaving here, whether you like it or not and I'm not going to let anyone tell me otherwise! Now get out of my office so I can finish what I started!" Sakura screamed as she stood up and shoved the 'meddler' out of the door, slamming it in his face. Even she, herself, had thought of herself a bit too cruel there, but he had to go. There was no way she could concentrate now, so she lay on the floor again and surrendered to tears.

-

Outside Sakura's door, Syaoran let out a sigh. It hadn't gone well on his part at all. It had gone just horribly. She'd closed the door and she wasn't going to let him in again. He'd just have to try again tomorrow.

_The first attempt at persuasion: a failure._

* * *

**Author's Note:** Wow! Sorry for the really long chapter guys, but I guess I got a little carried away. Besides, it would be too hard to break into two chapters since it was only a little under 3000 words. I'll update quickly if I get lotsa reviews! Well, thanks for reading. 

And please review!


	7. Persuasion: Failure or Success? Pt2

**Disclaimer:** Are you still questioning me? I don't own.

**Author's Note:** Hi! Sorry for the lack of updates... I was a bit lazy and uninspired, but here we are! I'm done chapter nine and later I'll start chapter ten. Man, I WANT to finish this story. I already have another idea for a story, but I'm not gunna start it until I'm finished with this one! Keep on reading!

**To the Reviewers:** Oh, you guys are just too sweet. If I get ten reviews for every chapter I'll jump up and down and land in like... ice cream or something! Who likes ice cream? EVERYONE! So everyone gets some! For those who don't, just have some pizza! Okay, read on!

* * *

**Chapter 7 – Persuasion: Failure or Success? Pt 2**

Everyone knew.

As soon as Sakura had walked through those doors, she could feel eyes on her. It had started with the secretary; the usual good morning slid out of her mouth and the secretary began to bawl as quietly as she possibly could. Truth be told, Sakura wasn't exactly very close to the woman, but all the same, she did like her. Maybe she was the only one who had said a word to her every morning. But then again, probably not, because Syaoran never shut up, even if he _did_ want her attention.

Foxily hiding away into her office that was now practically empty, Sakura began to rethink what she was doing. Right now, her brain was telling her that this idiotic idea of hers was completely absurd, and she even agreed with it. She loved this place, but her reasons for going were…noble, to say the least.

_I mean, they **are** noble reasons, right…? _

Sakura sat down and slammed her head on the desk heavily, ignoring any pain that came from it. She admitted that this was murdering her very, very slowly and it was worst than any physical torture. The nasty feeling in the pit of her stomach was telling her that her assumption was right. It was practically suicide leaving.

_I'm leaving, and nothing will stop me!_

She was determined, but the face she was keeping up was going to fail sooner or later.

-

Meilin walked through the front door and the whispers were flowing. Gossip, that was it she knew and she had to get in on it. She hastily thrust her bag into her office and skipped out, hunting for a new juicy piece of information to sink into her brain. As she searched, she couldn't help but notice Sakura's door shut tightly, as if people would storm in and break her from a trance. She caught herself doing this and scolded herself. Meilin knew that Sakura was a filthy, lying betrayer, and she wouldn't lead herself to think anything else.

"Meilin, did you hear the news?" Mizuki asked her quietly as she pulled the navy-haired woman into a 'private' corner.

"No, but I was looking for it," she told the lingerie designer. "What's up?"

Suddenly Mizuki flared with anger and snorted loudly. "The slut who threw herself all over our handsome Syaoran is leaving! Ugh, I can't stand thinking about her! Good thing she's going! We can have our chance with Syaoran!"

_The slut who threw herself all over Syaoran? Oh, right! That stupid cherry blossom! _

Meilin snickered. Sakura was absolutely pathetic. She was _so_ low that it disgusted her. The girl would kiss her man, make him go after her, and then leave him in her dust. Meilin never thought the auburn headed woman was _that_ cruel. Of course, she wouldn't _ever_ do that to her precious Syaoran!

"She must've been scared away on that day you showed her what you were made of!" Mizuki laughed, evil practically seeping out of her.

She remembered now. Had Sakura decided to leave _just _because of that? Was it right to feel guilty over something that the brown-haired girl deserved? Why was this killing her? Was there ever a time where she had no questions?

Apparently, there would be no time to answer that question because in an instant, Tomoyo appeared right in front of her face, her boyfriend in tow as well. Meilin jumped back a little and stared that a woman in shock. She looked very angry, and she didn't really want to mess with a mad Tomoyo—especially today.

"It's your fault!" she screamed, pointing a very accusing finger at Meilin.

"W-huh?" the confused Chinese woman asked in puzzlement.

"_Everyone_ said that Sakura is leaving, is it true?" the glaring girl demanded furiously.

"How should I know Tomoyo? I only just found out!" Meilin threw back out of panic as she backed away a little.

"I SHOULD BEAT YOUR ASS!" Tomoyo screamed, becoming seemingly insane at the moment as she charged angrily at the other Asian girl. Eriol, with his lightening fast reflexes, quickly came forward and held his girlfriend back through all her rage. She spoke again as she calmed down, tossing piercing stares at her. "I would've done it, but you're lucky Eriol's here. I know everything that happened between you two, Sakura told me. She's leaving because of you, so you should be happy you pathetic witch."

While Tomoyo stormed off to who knows where, Meilin stood there like a stunned piece of wood, although she didn't even know if wood could be stunned.

Mizuki, however, snickered like the now piece-of-wood had before. "Just another Sakura supporter! Don't get worked up Meilin; she'll be gone soon enough and then we'll get _our _chance."

This didn't seem to change Meilin's mood, because she continued her journey of not moving. On the inside, there was the uncanny feeling of guilt that was released from Tomoyo's yelling.

-

Eriol wasn't having a very good time. He slowly advanced on his girlfriend for a kiss, but she pushed him away aggressively and let out an angry sigh.

"I am _so_ going to get Meilin _and_ Sakura for this! Is this some kind of practical joke? If it is, I'm not laughing and I will smash everyone's head off if they're in on it!" Tomoyo rambled in fury.

"Tomoyo, would you _please_ just…take a deep breath?" Eriol pleaded tiredly as he placed a hand on his head and shook his sore cranium.

She did and just began to talk more. "I can't believe this! You know, all I _have_ are these people and everyone's trying to kill each other now. I'm just stuck here in the middle trying to fix things and kill everyone else for doing stupid things. They're all I have and everything is falling apart. I won't have _anything_ left at all in the end." Tomoyo exhaled and ceased her ramblings.

"That's not true," he told her softly, putting his arms around her waist caringly.

"Hmm?" she murmured as she closed her eyes and sank into his embrace.

"You've always got me," Eriol replied comforting as he stroked her hair in peace.

"Thanks Eriol," she whispered quietly, kissing him tenderly, "but would you talk to Syaoran and see what's up?"

He wanted to sigh and throw himself in a garbage can to avoid it, but he couldn't refuse his precious Tomoyo. Besides, he was close friends with Syaoran and he was supposed help out his friends. "Sure."

-

Sakaki had the powerful urge to toss every single paper she needed to sign in the shredder and forget about all the stupid piles of work she was required to do, but she couldn't. If she couldn't, then she needed something to distract her or give her a reason to postpone the stacks of horror.

She was lucky enough that a knock came at the door.

"Come in," she shouted not too loudly, attempting to sound less desperate than she actually was.

It was Tomoyo Daidouji that walked through the crazy boss's office frantically although she was still trying to act congenial as she bowed.

"Sakaki-sama," the worried bluenette greeted, "I need to talk to you about things that are happening in the office."

"Of course, but I'm giving you a gift after this," the red-eyed boss informed her.

Apparently Tomoyo wasn't even listening because she just sat down and began. " Please, I'm _begging_ you, Sakaki-sama, don't let Sakura leave."

This _again?_

Sakaki frowned and thought for a moment.

"I'm afraid I cannot do what you have asked, Daidouji," she replied neutrally, "but I have already discussed this topic with Syaoran. I will only pull back the order for the transfer if Sakura changes her mind. No one else can change this."

"B-but Syaoran, he's in-

The black haired Asian waved a hand to stop Tomoyo from speaking anymore. "Do not worry, I know the guy's in love with her."

"Then why…?"

"It's her decision and we aren't able to force Sakura against her will. If she tells me that she does not want to go to Kawasaki anymore, then I shall stop her from going. Whatever happens though, something will go wrong and that's inevitable."

Tomoyo nodded in comprehension. "Thank you, Sakaki-sama. I'll be going then."

She got out of her seat and turned to leave until the boss said, "Wait." She turned around as the scary woman tossed her a couple hundred yen.

"What's this for?" she asked, confused.

Sakaki grinned. "You just took up ten minutes of my paperwork."

-

"Yo," Eriol called to Syaoran as he entered the staff lunchroom.

"Hey," the Chinese guy gave back. Syaoran was refilling his water bottle from the cooler's water.

"So…" the dark-eyed boy started awkwardly. He had no idea how to start the conversation. "Did you hear about Sakura?"

"Yeah, I was the one who told everyone," Syaoran simply reported, now taking a generous sip from his bottle.

"Huh…? What happened anyways?" he asked in disbelief. His best friend was the one who found out first?

"She's leaving, and I don't know why, but the boss said that if Sakura changed her mind about going, she'd pull back the order. That's why I told everyone. If people showed her how much they care for her, she'd _have to_ change her mind…right?" The brunette sounded extremely uncertain at his own response. He was really trying to convince himself.

"Why don't you just show her that _you_ care?"

"I _have!_ So many times, but she just won't believe me!"

"Maybe she's in denial of liking you."

"No way… I'm not good enough, apparently. I'll _never_ be good enough for her!"

"And why is that?" Eriol snapped in annoyance, irritated of his friend's lack of determination. "Why will you never be good enough for Sakura?"

"Because she doesn't care about _me!_ I'll never matter in her eyes! She always tries to avoid me a she hates talking to me about anything! I try, and I have tried, but it's not working!" Syaoran yelled heatedly, hurling his water bottle at the wall with strength he didn't even know he had.

Water ran down the wall hastily, joining a broken plastic bottle on the ground. Syaoran felt exactly like it, split apart with everything around him spiraling downward. It was practically a nightmare. He was _wishing_ it were a nightmare so that he could just wake up and pretend none of this ever happened. Syaoran regretted everything that had occurred.

_Why can't we just go back?_

_I shouldn't have done it._

_It was my fault because I kissed her._

_I made everything complicated, and that's why she's leaving._

_Why am I still here?_

_It's me who should be leaving._

"Not that I like the Kinomoto girl much, but come on," Eriol urged him. "Let's go see what we can do."

Too frustrated to argue, Syaoran followed his friend out the door, still wishing he could go back in time.

-

Before Sakura knew it, people in the office surrounded her. It was right after she'd gone out to eat lunch, but it looked like that wasn't happening anytime soon. Mostly humans that liked her were in front of her.

"Sakura, will you change your mind yet?" a voice asked her as someone she knew as her best friend stepped out in front of the crowd along with her clingy boyfriend and Syaoran. "Don't you see, these people all care about you! Can you leave us?"

"I-I…" she stuttered uneasily. Sakura was beginning to break. It felt so good to know that this many people cared about her. She wanted to cry.

Even more because Meilin wasn't standing there.

That was a reminder of what she was doing. Her ambition was to fix things, and if going away was the solution, then it was right. She had to set things straight, repair broken friendships and then everything would be okay. Sakura had to keep telling herself that, but no matter how much she did, the tears still threatened to fall.

_No more tears._

_I don't want anymore tears…_

"Thank you…but… I just don't know…" Sakura uttered, looking away.

"Please, Sakura," another voice said. "Just consider it, for all of us."

Her head snapped up involuntarily. It was Syaoran that spoke and he was staring right at her. Her eyes locked with his and it was intimidating, but she couldn't look elsewhere. He was looking into her soul, feeling all her emotions, calming all her fear.

But it wasn't enough.

Finally turning away, she looked down.

"I'll think about it," Sakura told them honestly.

-

It was dark when Sakura lay in her bed having an inner debate. It was so hard. How could she leave when she might be fixing something, but she would also be leaving something that was so special? It was painful.

She'd have to make her decision soon and there were ten minutes left of the night. Sakaki would most definitely still be up at the time doing paperwork she should've done earlier. Should she reconsider?

Sakura picked up the phone and dialed her boss's number.

She was going to make up her mind.

* * *

**Author's Note: **Haha! I'm so evil! I left you with the most _horrible_ cliffhanger yet. Will Sakura leave or stay? Guess! I know, she's WAY too sensitive. Who would give up that much for friendship? Just goes to show you how much she cares. Alrighty! I'm rooting for at least ten reviews! You can do it!

Please review!


	8. The Wrong Destiny

**Disclaimer:** I don't _think_ I'm a part of Clamp… wait, am I? Chh! No… Aww!

**Author's Note: **This chapter there is a lot less happening, but there's much drama at the end because… Eh, you'll find out! Well now, I was supposed to update this chapter yesterday, but I got sick! And it was the day before Spring Break too! Don't blame me, cuz I had like... stomach flu or something. I won't go into details, since nobody really cares!

**To the Reviewers:** Hello great reviewers! Yay! 10 reviews for the last chapter again! Makes me happy, ya know? You guys are awesome! This it what motivates me to write! Well, go and read now! Don't be too pissed off (although that's what I want!)!

* * *

**Chapter 8 – The Wrong Destiny**

When Sakura woke up, she yawned tiredly and trudged into the bathroom to prepare for work. It was only then that she realized her house was exceptionally empty which led to the revelation of the fact that she was leaving. She was actually _leaving Toyko_. It was so surreal that Sakura just stood in the middle of the bathroom for five minutes, wondering how this happened.

_I'm leaving._

_Tokyo, Tomoyo, Meilin, Eriol…I guess, Sakaki-sama, and…_

_Syaoran._

She started panicking. What was she to do? Sakura's breath came out in gasps as she looked around in terror. Her heart beat faster as she cried out, "No!"

And then it all stopped.

Her breathing was once again normal while her heart rate had slowed down. It was probably an anxiety attack. She hadn't been expecting one, especially because she thought that she really _could_ handle something like that. Oh boy, was _she_ wrong.

It scared her stiff. Why couldn't she cope with the idea of getting out of here?

She was the perfect example of an idiot. Sakura was destroying everything she had. Her friendships would fall apart and she'd eventually lose contact. She didn't know anyone in Kawasaki at all.

_Come on! Get yourself together Kinomoto!_

Sakura pushed herself onward and prepared herself for everything that was ahead of her like everything was.

-

He first opened his eyes dimly as the sun shone in on his face painfully. He squinted through all the light, as his mood was much darker. Syaoran hadn't slept much that night since he'd been up wondering if Sakura would be leaving or not. How _could_ she leave anyways? After all that work he'd put into attempting to change her mind, Sakura had no choice but to stay or _really_ piss people off by running away.

"Why me…?" he muttered grumpily as he put a loose shirt over his head and walked into the green-tiled kitchen for a drink of water.

Syaoran was exceptionally confused today as he was trying to figure out if he was going to work today in a cheerful mood, or going to visit Sakura before she left in a sour mood. It seemed to him that it would be the second one since the cherry blossom felt that she needed to leave to… fix things or something like that. To Syaoran, the whole thing was so stupid. Couldn't she see that escaping her troubles weren't going to do anything but hurt more people? The secretary would never be able to be greeted again (because a couple of months ago Syaoran had made a stupid joke and now she wouldn't speak to him) by the one person who talked to her!

"Make the right decision, Sakura," he whispered before gulping down a cup of water.

As he made his way to the bathroom, the phone, unexpectedly, rang in a somewhat frantic manner. Syaoran found this strange but walked straight to the phone anyway and answered.

"Hello?"

"SYAORAN!" the person on the other end screamed.

"Whoa," he said calmly, holding the receiver further away from his ear. "Is that you Tomoyo?"

"YES IT'S ME YOU STUPID CHINESE IDIOT!" she shouted in anger.

"Uh… Okay… Why are you calling me this early in the morning? Giving up on Eriol?" he asked flirtatiously, even now grinning the signature grin without anyone around.

"SHUT UP! THIS IS NOT ABOUT ERIOL AND STOP FLIRTING WITH ME!" Tomoyo bawled in fury. "THIS IS IMPORTANT SO LISTEN UP YOU DESPERATE LOSER!"

"Eh… Right," Syaoran replied, dumbfounded by the comment.

"GET YOUR FAT ASS OVER TO THE OFFICE IN TEN MINUTES! SAKURA'S LEAVING!"

Syaoran froze as the receiver fell from his hand, landing hard but not hard enough to break from the impact.

After all that effort and work they put into getting her to change her mind, she still stubbornly stood by her decision. Part of him just wanted to grab Sakura and shake her until she realized that she was _important_ to everyone!

God damn it! He was practically _in love with her_ for the past year!

Syaoran darted to his bedroom and threw some clothes on before hastily rushing out the door, the phone receiver still on the ground. He did not hear the faint screams, "SYAORAN LI! TALK TO ME THIS INSTANT OR I'LL MAKE IT SO THAT YOU'LL NEVER REPRODUCE AGAIN!"

-

Only when the phone rang did Tomoyo respond to reality. She did not answer it though because her dream had put her into a state of great feeling as her fantasy was filled with a lot of Eriol, which, she did not want to go into detail with. She heard a message go through her answer machine, but she couldn't recognize the voice from the distance she was at. Besides, they didn't sound very urgent or anything.

Tomoyo twirled with glee into the washroom, as all her other friends did, to freshen up for the morning. All her problems…wait…what _were_ her problems? Oh well… There didn't seem to be any anyways.

She took her sweet time prepping herself before going to the office. According to her watch, she only needed to be down there in twenty minutes. Not really an issue since she didn't live too far away, but she still needed to eat some breakfast so that she wouldn't starve to death.

As Tomoyo skipped pleasantly into the kitchen, there was a flashing red light that caught her attention almost instantly. She looked at it with curiosity a made the quick conclusion that she was going to play that message. The button was pressed and a sound emitted from the machine.

"Good morning, Daidouji! I'll just get straight to the point of why your boss is calling you in the morning. I realize that you are Kinomoto's best friend and so I am sorry to inform you that Sakura had decided to go to Kawasaki on her transfer. She will be departing the office at eight-fifty before work, so if you want to say your goodbye you're welcome to come in early. Alright, see you at work today."

"Eight o'clock, A.M," the phone told her with a beep.

It took Tomoyo a few seconds to process all the information and let it all sink in. Eight-fifty was when Sakura was leaving and right now it was eight thirty-five, which left her with fifteen minutes to get there. That's when she screamed and flew out the door opening her cell phone to call Syaoran who'd probably want to know about this.

And just when they were all convinced that Sakura had changed her mind…

-

Sakura lugged her two heavy suitcases down the street to her workplace. She didn't understand why they had to leave from there. Wouldn't it be more convenient if they'd just pick her up from her house? She stopped thinking about it and settled her mind on more important matters.

_How many people will show up?_

_Tomoyo? Eriol? …Meilin…?_

…_Syaoran?_

Sakura mentally slapped herself. And _why_ exactly would the annoying amber-eyed boy show up? And _why_ exactly was she _thinking_ he might show up?

_Sakura must stop thinking._

_Also Sakura must stop referring to herself in third person._

_I'm Sakura and therefore I do not need to say Sakura._

_Stop thinking now, will you?_

That choice was exceptionally wise as she though her brain might be screwing up because of all the messes in her life right now. Instead, Sakura focused on wondering what would go on without her here in Tokyo.

Syaoran would eventually get with Meilin—and this she was sure of. Tomoyo would probably email her and phone her often when she wasn't sucking her boyfriend's face off and their work life would go on like it used to. It wasn't like she affected much there anyways.

It was hard to think like that, but she was pretty sure that she was extremely paranoid since forever and to get over that was impossible. Therefore, Sakura continued to roll her thoughts out in angst ways. Man, how depressing _was_ she? Oh, well… Doing all these things for the 'greater good' were messing with her, just like _everything_ else.

Finally, she approached the building she'd been working in for two years, but that would soon be two years and that was it. As Sakura walked through the shiny glass front doors, she was surprised to see that the secretary was not yet there. She was a bit sad about that—she figured that at least the woman she greeted mostly every morning would be there to bid her farewell.

It turned out she was wrong; because there was one person there waiting there for her, and it was very unsatisfying.

"Good morning, Sakaki-sama," she said to her boss politely.

"Hmm, Sakura… Seems like your little friends are late," she pointed out airily which made Sakura a bit mad.

"I didn't want them to see me leave anyway," Sakura replied stubbornly although she wished at least Tomoyo were here.

"Sure, sure," the woman dismissed with a voice dripping of sarcasm.

The cherry blossom wanted to glare at her boss, but she knew better than to piss off an angry… well, Sakaki. Instead she waited patiently for her ride as there were about ten minutes left. Her face was slightly burning red with fury and her mouth did not open once until the person she was waiting for came in.

"SAKURA!" Tomoyo gasped as she burst through the glass doors panting heavily.

"Tomoyo!" she called happily, dropping her suitcases and throwing her arms around her best friend.

The blue-haired girl returned her embrace but looked around in ferocity. Tomoyo pulled away and asked, "Where _is_ he?"

Sakura stared at her in perplexity. "Who…?"

"SYAORAN!" screamed the ticked off woman whom was given a very dirty look by her boss for yelling so loud. "HE WAS SUPPOSED TO BE HERE!"

…He was…?

-

It was when Syaoran was in his car that he figured that he should contact Tomoyo before she got really pissed and kicked his crotch at work, so he reached into his pocket to get his cell phone as he pulled out of his garage. He was silently thanking his mom for helping pay for his house while he literally smacked himself when he found… his cell wasn't _in his pocket._ This was when he retraced his steps and remembered that it was at Meilin's apartment. He'd left it there the last time he'd been there to use the bathroom. Syaoran cursed under his breath and quickly sped off into the direction of his date's home.

After approximately one and a half minutes, he reached Meilin's place as he got out of his car and ran up to her door, knocking and ringing the doorbell several times in panic. The female Chinese opened the door almost instantly and smiled rainbows at him.

"I need my cell phone," he growled without a greeting and pressed on into the house, ignoring her soft protests.

He searched for it frantically before spotting it on the coffee table. Syaoran picked up his phone and went to leave but was stopped by none other than the obsessed girl.

"And where do you think _you're_ going, Syaoran?" she asked, pressing her arms between the door frame as she stood in his way.

"Move," he ordered crossly.

"Not until you give me a kiss!" Meilin informed him, putting her hands behind his neck, apparently willing to take any chance she got. She probably wanted him to forget about Sakura or something. Besides, Meilin wasn't _that_ low.

"Get off me!" Syaoran spat resentfully and forcefully shoved her aside. "Just leave me alone,"

He glanced briefly at his watch only to find he was desperately running out of time. Last words given and cell phone forgotten, Syaoran got the hell out of that creepy place and retreated into the safe sanctuary of his car, hastily making his way to the work office.

-

_Oh no! _

_Cra-a-ap!_

_Sakura, stay calm and also stop referring to yourself in third person!_

_Damn it, I can **see **the dumb ass car already!_

The group of three could see the car that came toward them, fully prepared to sweep Sakura off her feet and throw her into the land of unknowns. It was perfectly on schedule and that's why she would've, if she had a gun, fired a missile at it for being so accurate. It was so obvious that Sakura wanted to stay in her hometown longer, but there was another reason that she couldn't quite put her finger on. It seemed like without fulfilling her desires, she couldn't detach the place from her.

Tomoyo, on the other hand, looked thoroughly annoyed because of many things. Her face turned into a mixture of sadness, however, when the car pulled up in front of them, who were then standing outside.

Sakaki's face was also full of sorrow and regret. She was practically losing her best designer to Kawasaki's boss who was a man that had insulted her before about not being feminine enough. He'd snickered and said, "I'll bet you're three quarters male," which resulted in session of beatings. He sure shut his mouth after that even though he still said snide comments pretty often over the phone.

Sakura breathed heavily as she stared at her future in the form of a four-wheel vehicle. She still couldn't comprehend what she needed or what was missing and that meant she couldn't leave.

"Sakaki-san," she softly mumbled, "could we wait five more minutes?"

"No," the red-eyed boss told her firmly, knowing that she couldn't be sympathetic all the time.

"Please, just let her," Tomoyo pleaded with water filling her eyes.

"No, get in the car _now_," Sakaki commanded, but they noticed it was strained.

Sakura nodded sorrowfully as the chauffeur gathered her bags and started to pack them into the trunk. She gave Tomoyo another tight hug and an "I love you," before she hesitantly got into the car with salty liquids running down her face. Sakura tried to stop them, but found she couldn't hide her sadness or the missing piece she couldn't place. She thought she should be bigger into the goodbye, but it was too painful.

Sakura could swear she heard someone call her name, but maybe it was just her conscience since she'd been going crazy for a while anyhow. She ignored it focusing on her revelation.

She knew she was sad that Syaoran hadn't shown up to say goodbye or to try and convince her to stay again even if it were too late. She couldn't hide her disappointment at all because it was taking over her. It was too late. Everything she'd just realized was too late.

She needed him.

-

Syaoran slammed on the brakes and nearly tossed himself out of his car when he reached the office. He saw Tomoyo and Sakaki nearby, both looking very upset. He turned toward the car that was chauffeuring Sakura to Kawasaki and heard its door close.

"SAKURA!" he yelled with all his might as the car began to accelerate. She couldn't leave without saying goodbye, she just couldn't or else he wouldn't have been able to accomplish the only thing that was really important to him right now. Syaoran hadn't even been able to call Tomoyo back earlier in the rush.

His heart sunk, as the car didn't stop.

It rolled on.

* * *

**Author's Note:** Am I evil yet? Those of you who already did think that I was evil, why thank you! That's right! I'm trying to get all of you frustrated right now! Don't worry! The next couple of chapters will be just as annoying, but it'll all end up okay! Let's aim for those ten reviews again my friends!

So please review!


	9. The Things That Should Never Happen

**Disclaimer:** Hmm… I don't think I'd be writing fanfics if I owned CCS…

**Author's Note:** Haha! We're not quite done yet! Anyone think I'm totally evil yet? Well, my next plot shall enter in this chapter! There are two, but both connected. You might think one of them will be slightly cliché, but trust me; you will throw pies at me for these frustrating plots. But do not worry, because Sakura and Syaoran WILL be together as will Tomoyo and Eriol and be very much in love. I hope you like this!

**To the Reviewers: **Erm… Ryou Kanzaki, thank you for telling me about my wrongness in spelling MEILING, but I'm not going to change it for the rest of the story. I will, however, keep this in mind and spell it correctly in my next story which I shall post when this one is completed. Woot! Thanks for those names for my OCs oh reviewers! I shall use some of them, or the ones I like because I'm starting that part right now! WOW! I was SO HAPPY when I saw the reviews! I almost hit my head on the ceiling I was jumping so much... THANK YOU!!! I honestly hope you like this chapter!

* * *

**Chapter 9 – The Things That Should Never Happen**

"DAMN IT!" he screamed so loudly that all of Tokyo should've been able to hear it.

Many people who were headed off to work turned their heads to see if something interesting had happened. A baby awoke, crying and wailing away while the mother shot a dirty look in the direction of the holler.

Eventually, people became disinterested and continued on their way. There was a cloud of silence, however, that hung over three specific people. Two were staring down the road where the vehicle that everyone wished had exploded before getting there had just moments before been. The other had sunk to the ground, clutching his fists so tightly his knuckles were turning white. Sakaki was the first to break the silence.

"Ahem," she piped up, clearing her throat. "I guess we should get to work now."

"Yeah," Tomoyo replied softly, as if she were in a traumatized state.

Syaoran remained silent and aggressively pushed open the front door of the office as he approached it. His anger was dying to lash out at something. He'd have to go to the gym later and take out some rage. He didn't look back at the two females behind him, mourning over the same subject as him. Syaoran shook his head. The same person, all different situations, and his was the worst.

-

Sakura barely had time to guess that this was an expensive car because lucky for her, she had a nice window separating her side from the drivers so she could have privacy, just like in limos. She was deadly lucky, because she started to cry again, very, very loudly. Why was it that horrible revelations always came at the worst times? Either way, she wouldn't have known what to do if she'd realized it sooner.

_Oh god…_

_I'm leaving Tokyo and I've just had the worst thing come to me._

_I hate myself._

Stupid. That's what she was and it was the one word that described her perfectly. Maybe if she'd known sooner she wouldn't have made this decision although that chance was slim. Why was the thought so hard to process anyway?

She had feelings for Syaoran.

There, she admitted it.

It wasn't a tiny schoolgirl crush nor was it an all blow out 'I'M IN LOVE!' thing. What else could she say? Sakura had feelings for the egotistical guy, but deep down she knew that he wasn't like that. Most guys had what she thought of as a personality mask. They hid their true selves to be all _cool_ and _popular_.

Yet Syaoran had shown her his personality, opened up to her to let her in and she still pushed him away. Why? Because she kept on denying her feelings just to prove that she could get him to stay away. The thought of her liking him was so absurd, but it didn't feel…wrong.

_I have feelings for Syaoran._

_I have feelings for Syaoran._

_Oh man! **I** have feelings for Syaoran!_

_It's too soon to be having feelings for another guy…especially after **him**._

_This is so wrong!_

…But it wasn't…not right, was it?

Sakura sniffed quietly and wiped up her shed tears. Even if she had realized she had feelings for Syaoran earlier, she probably would've gone anyway. Meilin's friendship was more precious to her than a relationship with a guy.

She looked at nothing in particular out the window with a firm look on her face. She wasn't going to cry anymore because she wasn't a baby. It sounded immature, but truth be told, Sakura had wept _far_ too many times in the last few weeks.

-

He was absolutely positive that he wouldn't get anything at all done that day, and so far he was correct. Syaoran moped at his desk in the silence of the office as his eyes focused on nothingness. He was in a stupor and that was for sure. He didn't even know what time it was or if he was thinking or not.

He just stared.

There was a knock on Syaoran's door, but he didn't hear it in his present state. The person on the other side knocked again, louder and more impatient this time and once again the owner of the depressed amber-eyes did not respond.

"Syaoran! Open the door!" the person outside yelled, but he could not identify who it was since he wasn't paying attention.

A sound of someone tampering with the lock drifted around before the door swung open with surprising swiftness. Syaoran was still confused of who was in his office even when the person, whom he now figured was a female, stepped into the room.

"Who are you?" he croaked out as he slumped forward and hit his head on the desk in front of him. It slammed with a thunderous thud, which was painful, but he didn't seem to feel it with his numbness in play.

"Jeez," the woman snorted, smacking him on the side of his head that wasn't on the table, "it's Tomoyo you idiot. Are you drunk?"

"No. I'm stone cold sober," he replied while he lifted his head to get a full view of the woman. It indeed was Tomoyo.

"Then what are you?" she asked sternly with her hands on her hips.

"Utterly depressed."

Tomoyo sighed beside him as she flopped onto the table beside his head. "I'm okay right now, so I'm sure you'll be too."

Syaoran gave a grunt in reply.

"Oh stop sulking an _do_ something already. You're going to like, melt or something if you don't."

"That's not funny. It doesn't help either."

"Fine then. I'm just trying to help you stop dwelling on what happened a couple hours ago. So tell me, what exactly did you feel for Sakura. We all know you like her," she inquired curiously.

"Why should I tell you?"

"'Cause it'll make you feel better."

"How?"

"Just shut up and tell me."

Syaoran then let out a long breath and closed his now dull eyes. He thought for a bit on how to describe how he felt about her. He didn't even have a clue as to why he was going to tell Tomoyo.

_Maybe because she's Sakura's best friend?_

_Maybe._

"It's sort of like love, but not quite there and it's not remotely close to a crush since it's beyond that," he explained slowly, stilling trying to figure out a way to explain it properly. "Let's just say that if I were a player who slept with every girl around once and then didn't call her back, I'd have to call back Sakura."

The young Daidouji lifted an eyebrow at his explanation. "Was that a substitute for what you feel for her or were you speaking from experience?"

"The first one."

"Right."

A silence emerged then as Syaoran put his head gently back onto the desk, now feeling that pain that he'd escaped before.

"It's sort of like love, but not quite there and it's not remotely close to a crush since it's beyond that," Tomoyo echoed from his earlier melodramatic speech.

"Huh…?" he grumbled in question.

"I wish Eriol talked like that," she told him as she swung her legs back and forth like a child while they dangled down. "It sounds so good when you put your feelings into your words."

"That's cheesy and guys aren't supposed to be cheesy," Syaoran defended although that statement didn't really hurt his ego—just Eriol's.

"Yeah, well how could you say it in a more masculine way?" she asked looking off into space as he'd done earlier.

The thought crossed his mind. How much did he like Sakura? He'd like her for a pretty long time now and she'd most definitely gotten closer to him, so where was he?

"I was—am falling in love with her," he said honestly, glancing upwards to look at the blank wall.

"But you're not in love."

"No,"

"Do you miss her already? Like me?"

"What does it look like?"

"Okay, so you're close to loving her."

"Yeah, well, you know what love's like. You're with Eriol."

At this Tomoyo froze. He could see her stiffen as her head came into her chest and her eyes darkened.

"I just don't know," she answered before gulping briefly.

"What do you mean?" Syaoran asked her in bewilderment. "I thought you two were madly in love?"

She shook her head lightly. "It may seem that way sometimes, but love involves trust and he doesn't trust me. He's insecure and doesn't believe that I'm faithful for one stupid reason."

"And what's that?" he questioned sympathetically.

"I can't tell you," she responded while her eyes close and the room resumed to be quiet.

After a few seconds Syaoran spoke.

"I'm hungry. Let's go get something to eat," he suggested, as he stood up feeling much better from this morning.

-

Sakura yawned when she woke up from a nap she took after ceasing her weeping. She was in a much better mood after that and telling herself to be strong repeatedly. Ironically, the car came to abrupt stop as her emerald eyes took in the light. Sakura spotted her house—the place she grew up in—and grew excited, even as her heart throbbed. The chauffeur then opened the door.

"Miss Kinomoto, we've arrived," he announced offering her a way out of the car she'd been sitting in for a couple of hours.

She nodded gratefully and got out of the vehicle in a hurry. The sun shone brightly outside as she took in the fresh air while the man pulled her baggage out of the trunk.

The familiar scenery made her feel happier as she tried her best to push away the thoughts of Syaoran. Satisfied with her arrival, she skipped up to the front door with the man holding her bags following suit. Sakura took in the image of her light yellow house and the neighbours' too, matching the clean, white sidewalks around her. Finally prepared to face her father, she rang the doorbell once and knocked on the door.

Almost immediately she heard feet shuffling toward her as her heart began to pick up its pace. When the door did open, she found herself in front of a person she hadn't seen since last July.

"Ah!" the man exclaimed holding his arms open. "I was expecting you, Sakura!"

"Daddy!" she squealed as she jumped into his embrace. Sakura really _had_ always been daddy's little girl. Perhaps not to the extent that no guy was ever good enough for her, but she'd always been close to him.

"Come in! You'll be glad to know I kept your room just the way you left it!" he informed her proudly.

Sakura let another squeal out of her mouth and went inside while the chauffeur put her bags inside and was quickly gone.

-

Syaoran and Tomoyo walked back into the office both feeling that they'd developed a genuine new friendship. They were so much closer after discussing their love life because of the bond Syaoran had with Eriol and the one that Tomoyo had with Sakura. Both adults were in extremely better moods since Sakura's departure because they'd come to the conclusion that they could do nothing more but remember her and keep in contact with her.

"I feel…guilty for not being there when she left," he told Tomoyo with great truthfulness.

Tomoyo looked thoughtful for a minute as they ascended the stairs. "Send her an email and tell her that. I'm sure she'll be fine with it."

"Okay," he replied, still considering the idea.

"Tomoyo!" someone shouted—and they sounded angry.

The two both looked around for their shouter before finding that it was none other than the mighty yet insecure Eriol.

"Hey man," Syaoran greeted with a passive wave of a hand.

"Hi Eriol honey," Tomoyo also greeted cheerfully, somehow not noticing the anger in his voice.

"Where _were_ you today? I was trying to find you for who knows how long!" the probably over-protective boyfriend demanded ragingly.

"I spent the morning with Syaoran," she educated him, blinking with slight confusion although she was catching on to where this was headed.

Syaoran did not speak. He didn't want to interfere with this couple's affairs.

"You were supposed to spend the morning with _me_," he said in a matter-of-factly tone.

Tomoyo sighed visibly. "Eriol, I spend _every_ morning with you and not to mention _everyday_."

"Well I'm you _boyfriend_ if you didn't notice and that means you're supposed to spend the days with me!" he retorted with fury.

"Being my boyfriend doesn't mean you get to be with me every single second of my life!" she shot back.

"Well maybe I wouldn't _need to_ if you didn't slut yourself around to Syaoran!"

"I spent _one freaking morning with him_, _TALKING_ and you're giving me this crap!"

"It's not my fault that you're unfaithful and want to throw yourself at the Kinomoto lover!"

"Why do you keep on saying _my_ name?" Syaoran interjected in suspicion even though he really didn't want to get into this. He was just curious.

"Oh don't you know, you asshole? This slut used to be part of the Syaoran fan club!" Eriol yelled, pointing fiercely at Tomoyo.

"That was before we even _started_ dating!" she snarled defensively. "You're just incredibly insecure you-you… man whore!"

Eriol's eyes narrowed at this turning his glance into a glare. "Don't deny that you're cheating, because I know you are you little slut. We're over."

Tomoyo's face became fearful as water found its way to her eyes. "Eriol, don't give me that crap. I blew off the tradition of being with my best friend on Christmas to be with you."

Eriol _laughed._ "You call that commitment? A real girlfriend would stay with her boyfriend forever!"

"Wow, you really _are_ insecure," Syaoran mumbled airily, "so how could I have missed this?"

"Maybe because I was sucking his face off and _spending quality time with him_. Now he's gone nuts," Tomoyo hissed at her freaking out now ex-boyfriend.

"You're all just fools," the self-doubting man spat with confidence. "I never want to touch you again, even if it's with a stick."

Tomoyo winced, genuinely hurt by his venomous words. "F-fine. Just… Just go away then,"

He happily pranced out, leaving his probably ex-best friend now and ex-girlfriend in his dust. It was a very gloomy scene. They were lucky not a lot of people were looking, but a few whispers were being passed around. Syaoran suddenly turned to the broken-hearted girl.

"You okay?" he asked gently, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder like a good friend would.

"Yeah," Tomoyo replied, teary eyed, "but I can't believe that just happened."

He nodded in agreement. This really _was_ a surreal moment in his life book. He couldn't remember a time where those two hadn't been together and there was a possibility that he'd just lost his best friend for doing nothing at all. Syaoran couldn't even believe that Tomoyo used to be one of those girls who just wanted to maul him either. He was angry with Eriol though because he didn't trust Tomoyo just because she used to like him.

Now he knew how Sakura felt when Meilin they had gotten pissed off at each other. He wasn't exactly sure what had happened between them, but he was pretty sure that it involved him.

"Oh no!" Tomoyo cried throwing her hands up to cover her currently wet face.

"What?" he asked, surprised by her sudden shout.

"Eriol's going to tell Sakura about this!"

-

Sakura didn't know how glad she was to be back, but it was definitely an improvement. There was _tons_ less drama over here and it felt like a weight had just been lifted off of her shoulders.

She'd been re-exploring her room to get a feel of what it was like to be home again. Her pink covers were still there and all her stuffed animals as well, exactly like she'd left it. It looked like her dad had recently dusted though.

"Sakura! Could you get the door?" Fujitaka called from the downstairs as she heard the bell ring.

"Coming!" she yelled, finding a strange comfort in having such a familiar interaction.

Sakura pounced down the stairs and walked to the door cautiously. Maybe it was Syaoran? Coming after her to apologize for not saying goodbye? If it was, she was going to kick his ass for not showing up sooner.

_Oh who am I kidding?_

_I **want** him to be there._

She began to get very nervous as her hand cupped the doorknob, turning it slowly. Gradually, a figure came into her view. She saw who it was and tried to speak, opening and closing her mouth before realizing nothing was coming out.

"Hey Sakura," was all the person said.

* * *

**Author's Note:** You'll _know_ this person if you use your brain correctly. Take a guess at who it is! Let's see how many people get it right! Am I evil _yet?_ Do not worry, Tomoyo and Syaoran ARE NOT GETTING TOGETHER! Remember that. It's strictly SxS ExT. That's all.

Please review! It'll make me happy!


	10. What is Said Cannot be Unsaid

**Disclaimer:** No offense, but if anyone thinks I own CCS by now they're dumb.

**Author's Note:** Yeah, there's a cliffhanger for you, but it's not exactly challenging to figure out whom Sakura sees in the doorway! Maybe Sakura will go to work for the first time in this chapter. Don't know yet! Let's see how it plays out! (Is it really chapter ten already?)

Really sorry for the delay. It's not the reviews, I swear. It's just fanfiction wouldn't let me update last week for some weird reason and so I had to wait an extra one. Unfortunately, this got me a bit tired of writing this fic and so I'm taking a hiatus which will last for up to 2-4 weeks. Sorry about this. Don't worry too much though. I have every intention of finishing this. Just check every Friday and chapter eleven's bound to show up soon.

**To the reviewers: **And I thought it wouldn't be a challenge to figure out who was at the door. OH MY! _Falls over._ I CANNOT believe that nobody guessed it. If you remember minor details from a certain chapter I'm sure you would've gotten it. Okay, so it wasn't THAT MINOR! _Groaaan! _Well, thanks for the reviews! Yay!

* * *

**Chapter 10 – What is Said Cannot be Unsaid**

It was very complicated for Sakura to even process the fact that he was actually here, standing right in front of her. At first, she'd been speechless, but after he greeted her she wanted to respond with something witty that'd humiliate him. Another urge was to kick or sac him _really_ hard for being such a jerk and that last peaceful one was to ask why he was here. Then there was that option of crying, but that was just sad and really old news. Sakura decided to combine them, excluding the violent one although it was sorely tempting.

"Why, _hello_ Lei," she greeted with mock cheeriness. "My, what _is_ your pathetic, cheating ass doing in my doorway?"

The man, known as Lei, sighed and brushed a hand through his fine, black hair. He blinked and observed Sakura through his dark blue eyes, which used to make her want to kiss him. Today, feeling those same eyes on her made her feel like there was poison eating through her flesh. Anything to make him stop staring.

"Wow, Sakura," Lei started with a low voice, "you look great."

"And you look like you've just finished some business with a couple of whores," Sakura insisted as she smiled rainbows of falseness.

"Erm… right. Look, Sakura, I'm sorry about before okay? I've missed you a lot," he told her genuinely, but she could easily tell he was fibbing by that glint in the corner of his eye.

"Sure," she replied airily, her voice dripping with sarcasm, "and I've missed you about as much as a pig misses taking a bath."

"Sakura, you're using sarcasm, aren't you?"

"I don't know, _am I?_"

By this time Sakura's eyes were about rolling thirty times a second and she thought they might fall out of their sockets.

"Sakura!" came Fujitaka's gentle voice. "Who is it?"

"It's… It's—uhm…" she trailed off, caught off guard this time from her father's call.

Apparently, she didn't have to answer this because her dad came to the front door at that time. Sakura was looking at the ground, but when she heard the scraping noises of his slippers on the hardwood stop, she knew he was right there. She slowly lifted her head as much as she dared to just to see his face. The two men stood man to man, looking each other in the eye.

"Who might you be?" her dad asked in his regular tone of voice, so very welcoming and friendly.

"He's—" Sakura started, but was cut off by Lei.

"I'm Sakura's boyfriend," he told the man with the glasses calmly.

She was about to point out that he was, in a very well emphasized "_**EX**__-boyfriend,"_ mostly on the ex part, her stupid cheating ex, but Fujitaka beat her to it.

"Well, that's good to know then. Why don't you come in?" he asked with the natural kindness coming off.

"Thank you," her _EX-_boyfriend said as he graciously closed the door behind him and kicked off his shoes, placing them next to each other neatly.

This was when she began to burn with rage inside. Was this guy _trying_ to come out as the 'perfect' boyfriend or something? Gosh, why was her dad ever so nice? Sakura guessed that every extremely nice guy _had_ to come with the price of letting a person that someone close hated the most into their house.

I can survive… I'm okay… I can do this… Aw, what am I talking about? 

_I __**cannot**_ _do any of this stuff._

_**Bad**__ karma…ugh…_

Her father was now leading Lei into the kitchen on the topic of sports. If Lei continued to act like a gentleman, her dad was going to like him. She had to figure out a way to get him out of here.

-

Syaoran tossed his cell phone somewhere that he didn't know, but frankly, he didn't care. He blamed it for that horrid day anyway. He couldn't get Sakura out of his mind or that dilemma with Eriol and Tomoyo. He couldn't even figure out how they ever _looked_ like such a good and happy couple. Yesterday they had been smiling and kissing like there was no tomorrow and today Tomoyo informed him that Eriol was insanely insecure and that display of argument he'd seen earlier was confirmation.

And Tomoyo a fan girl of his? Why, he didn't think he could even imagine it in his wildest dreams. It was _way_ too far out. Syaoran had always thought of Tomoyo as the girl that Eriol liked. Man, Eriol was insecure over that? He should've sucked it up and realized that his former fan girl was in love with him instead of accusing her of going out with him.

All those people were right.

Love _was_ complicated.

So Sakura… Eriol, as Tomoyo had told him, would write an email to her and tell those stupid lies that he'd made up and convinced himself so easily to believe. All he had to do was type one up before Eriol did and send it. Besides, it was the perfect time to do all that apologizing for not showing up to bid her farewell in the morning.

Stubbornly forcing his exhausted body to get up and turn on his computer, he briefly wondered what Sakura was doing, feeling right then and there. She was probably having a great time catching up with her dad.

Oh well. He couldn't mope around now! He had work to do.

-

Scheming was one of the things Sakura had absolutely no talent at doing, so it was obvious that it was becoming quite a trouble to think up a way to get Lei out of her supposed sanctuary. Whatever she thought of always seemed to end up crashing and burning like a paper airplane into a fire. It could be that Sakura just had bad luck, or it was more likely that she just didn't plan things out very well.

_I'll count them off._

One. Off dating and liking boys after Lei: Failed. Two. Avoiding Syaoran: Failed miserably. Three. Sneaking out of the office: Failed. Four. Helping Meilin: Failed. Five. Not having feelings for Syaoran: Failed very miserably. Six. Getting transferred without anyone knowing: Extremely failed. Seven. Being happy enough back at home: Almost succeeded except when Lei showed up.

That was one heck of a failed plan list.

Okay, so maybe it was her. Another plan would just mean more failures so it was hopeless to even try. Also, she'd probably cry again if there were another bombing of her scheme.

_I guess I should just let this one play out._

Sakura spun suddenly spotted her laptop sticking out of one of her bags, practically begging her to be opened. She could resist it herself as she put it on her desk and switched it one. This would be all right since she hadn't been on here for a while anyway. It was time she checked her email.

When she logged on she found two emails that immediately caught her eye. One was from Eriol, whom she figured didn't like her much since he barely talked to her, and the other was sent by Syaoran in which made her heart race in excitement.

Yes, she was going to read Syaoran's first. Definitely.

_I sicken myself for being so lovesick._

**From Syaoran:**

Hey Sakura,

This is a formal email, which I usually don't do, but it's you, so…yeah… _Anyway_, first off, I'm really, really, _really_ sorry that I couldn't see you before you left. See, Tomoyo phoned me and then I hung up on her 'cause I was getting out to go to the office to see you, but then when I was in my car I realized that she was gunna kick my pretty ass if I just randomly stopped talking. So I was gunna call her, but then I didn't have my cell phone 'cause I left it at Meilin's house on our last date. Then I went to get it as fast as I could, but the slut tried to make a move on me therefore resulting in me being extremely late. That's how it went and this paragraph was really strange.

Now, how's it been at the office? Disastrous. After you left the day just started getting worse and worse. I hung around with Tomoyo and man, Eriol just flipped when he saw us talking. I never thought that my 'best friend' had major issues since his now ex used to be in my fan club… You're not part of that, right? I mean, you _do_ hate me (apparently, but I know you secretly love me) after all. Well, Eriol's gunna send you an email too that will probably say some stupid lies like Tomoyo cheated on him with me since he flipped, eh? Just warning you, so don't you believe what the dude writes.

Honestly, I already miss you; ya darn cute and evil cherry blossom. You're the devil. ;)

Mail me back, oh evil one!

Syaoran, the man of your dreams.

**Syaoran, message end.**

Sakura found herself giggling lightly at his sarcastic cockiness, but quickly stopped it. God, she was _giggling?_ Could she _be_ anymore like a schoolgirl? There were more serious issues at hand anyway.

So what did Syaoran mean about Eriol telling lies and going absolutely crazy? It did seem very realistic as the guy practically never let Tomoyo out of his sights. And over this they'd broken up? Wow, Sakura really needed to let her crush know that his writing was unclear and it was confusing her like mad. Perhaps if she read Eriol's email she'd get a better sense of what was going on.

She clicked on the email eagerly, ready to find out that juicy bit of information.

From Eriol: 

Damn it Sakura, there's tons of crap going on at work.

Tomoyo is cheating on me with Syaoran. I was looking for her all morning and then I see them come in together at lunch, talking and enjoying themselves practically right after you left. I could instantly tell that they were close.

I know that Syaoran likes you, but don't be fooled by his pathetic charms. He's just a stupid man slut.

Eriol.

**Eriol, message end. **

After viewing this, Sakura felt the puzzle was a bit more put together. Okay, Eriol was insecure or paranoid or whatever because Tomoyo was previously one of Syaoran's fan girls even though she'd almost everyday and night, but the moment he could not locate her he went berserk.

The whole situation was completely ludicrous to Sakura. Everyday she'd seen Tomoyo and Eriol eating each other's faces off and he breaks their ties because of a thing like that?

Ridiculous.

The unstable relationship boy was actually slightly sensible at one point, however. At least he faced his problems head on (unlike her), although they were just scenes in his head, and did something, confronting Tomoyo as it occurred to her. This, Sakura gave him full credit for even if he was such an idiot.

Nonetheless, there was still that little twitching feeling that bothered her in the corner of her brain. That annoying tiny piece was telling her that it was true, that Syaoran and Tomoyo were together and happily kissing at the same moment.

But she had strong feelings for Syaoran, and that meant she couldn't give up on him.

At least, for now.

-

Tomoyo, at that moment, was not sticking her tongue in Syaoran's mouth and currently, that thought would disgust her. What she was really doing was pouring water out of her teary eyes. Her relationship with Eriol had gone down on bad terms for a pointless accusation that he believed. She was angry, stressed, and full of sorrow. Tomoyo almost wondered how her tear glands could manage all that water that was presently leaking down her face.

She wanted to hit something and take out all her frustrations, but she wasn't that type of girl so all she could do was cry and wail into her pillow. It wasn't doing much good for her, but it made her feel at least a bit better.

A phone call was what she needed, so she dialed a long distance number that she hadn't used in a while that was answered in Kawasaki.

-

She didn't want to get up that morning; needless to say, Sakura did not sleep very well. Tomoyo had called her last night sobbing throughout that whole conversation which left her worrying the whole night. That twitch in her mind was now not bothering her anymore. The phone call had washed the feeling of her friend cheating with Syaoran away as she heard the full details of yesterday's incident. There was but one conclusion.

Once again, it was her fault.

It was just another failed plan because she thought that her leaving would solve everything yet all it did was make things worse.

But maybe Meilin had finally gotten her chance with Syaoran.

Whatever happened, she couldn't dwell on this any longer. She needed to get ready for her first day at work or at least look physically prepared. Sakura was certainly not mentally prepared.

_This is going to be a fun day._

_Yes, I'm __**sure**__ it'll be. _

_Negative karma loves me. _

_Just perfect. _

Once Sakura was changed out of her pajamas and into her nice, professional work clothes, she headed downstairs only to find her worst enemy standing in the kitchen.

"What are you _still_ doing in here?" she hissed as she shot a dirty look his way.

"Your father asked me to stay the night, so I did," Lei replied coolly. "Anything to stay in the same house as you."

"Pervy stalker!" Sakura accused, angry that her father was too nice.

"Don't deny that you love me," he told her cockily.

She rolled her eyes as she made her way to the water filter, pouring the liquid into a cup she'd gotten. The _nerve_ of this guy! Syaoran teased her maybe, but this guy was just a stupid jerk.

"Your nether regions are going to get kicked by me sooner or later," she informed him, eying him cautiously.

"So sure about that?" Lei asked her in arrogance.

"What is said cannot be unsaid," she told him. "It'll happen eventually."

Fortunately, before Lei could piss her off even more, her father called her so she hastily ran into the living room where Fujitaka was sitting.

"Morning!" she greeted brightly.

"Good morning to you as well, sweetie," Fujitaka returned with a soft smile. "Now about your boyfriend, I think he's very nice."

"_EX—"_ she started before her supposed-to-be-polite father interrupted.

"I think it would be nice if you married him."

Sakura stared at him in complete shock, unable to get a single word out of her mouth. The question was, what should she do next: faint or scream?

* * *

**Author's Note:** Don't know who Lei is? Reread chapter one (the chapter in which I now hate the most looking back). I don't think this is my best chapter, but it's alright. More to come in a matter of weeks! BWAHAHAA! I do, however, apologize too! You guys are the greatest! 

Please review!


	11. The Truth Gets You Nowhere

**Disclaimer:** Holy SHIZ! If you don't know I will NEVER own CCS or Clamp, you must be oblivious to the law.

**Author's Note:** Why hello there! It's been awhile... did I go a week over what I said I would? Err... Sorry! My bad. Got a bit off time, but here's some good news! Chapter 12 is LONG so that'll be up in about two weeks. Honestly, I think this story will finish soon. I'm sensing about sixteen chapters if I can keep some ideas coming. I still have to plan my next story too. I already know what it's about, but I need some GOOD cliffhangers to keep people reading. Me? I've been having some problems with that these last couple chapters, but chapter 12 is the GOD of this stuff. Okay, I'm rambling now...

**To the reviewers: **Once again, THANK YOU FOR YOUR WONDROUS REVIEWS! Also, hey! I don't forget my reviewers! I kinda wondered where you were, totally-misunderstood(did I spell that right?)! Alrighty then, here's a pretty good chapter and a new person to hate! This person will cause more problems, eh?

* * *

**Chapter 11 – The Truth Gets You Nowhere**

Syaoran now knew exactly how Sakura had felt when she had hid away in her office, afraid of being seen by someone that completely _loathed_ you—even if that person was some insecure ass who assumed the worst when they saw you hanging out with their girlfriend. Of course, Eriol couldn't completely loathe him…or… Well, Syaoran didn't really want to think about it. At least he could relate to his long lost love now.

The amber-eyed young man slumped in his seat, keeping himself small as if something would jump out and bite him. Mosquitoes were out of the question, but the certain dude with glasses could burst in any time of the day and chomp his head off. Then again, why wasn't there a lock on his door again? Right, the stupid boss was too cheap to buy any.

_Wait… I take that back._

_Sakaki would __**kill**__ me if she heard that…_

Syaoran couldn't resist the urge to wonder what the violent boss was doing at that moment, but he couldn't risk leaving the room. Besides, Sakura was her beloved employee designer.

-

A bloodcurdling scream erupted throughout the Kinomoto household. As the noise came to a halt, Sakura took many deep breaths in and out, trying to restore all the oxygen she'd used to emit that shriek of horror. Fujitaka was still and had stopped inhaling to process the fact that his daughter had just done something that was an unimaginable thing for her to do. Lei, previously smirking about the whole thing, did not smirk anymore and winced at the stunning sound that entered his ears.

"I'm… going to work," she breathed out, picking up the necessary materials for her job.

On her way out, her shoulder briefly brushed her ex's, saying that she'd definitely won this round. Lei let out a snort, as his way of saying he'd never lose against her.

"Go and die," she whispered before exiting the house even if it didn't make her feel any better.

A couple of blocks of walking and Sakura had reached her new office. It was similar to the old one, but much smaller. She suspected there would be less people working there. The auburn-haired woman only found comfort in the glass doors, so familiar and close in design as the old ones she used to walk through. The secretary sat at the front and there wasn't any stairs here, just a door. _That_ was going to be strange. Sakura approached the woman seated at the front.

"Hi, I have a meeting with Kamiya-sama," she informed the lady politely.

"Yeah, give me a sec," the secretary replied unkindly, not even bothering to look up from her filing work.

The full-grown female had dark brown hair that was highlighted in a light shade of brown and it was loose, hanging until in was about her mid-torso. Her eyes were the dull colour grey and her outfit consisted of a simple white blouse (that showed a tad too much cleavage… she _so_ wasn't wearing a bra.) with a black skirt that was _way_ too short to be considered legal.

Sakura observed this while she waited in front of the desk.

And waited…

And waited…

She glanced at her watch. Dang! Her meeting with her new boss was in three minutes! What the heck was this stupid secretary doing? Sakura raised her head to look at the name tag the annoying woman was wearing and saw that it said 'Rei.' She was going to keep this name in mind in case this girl was going to piss her off exclusively.

The slightly pissed off girl, impatiently waiting to meet her boss, began to clear her throat to see if the person behind the desk would move. Yet there was still no movement and this _really_ got to Sakura.

"_Excuse me!_" she nearly shouted in anger. Finally, the secretary looked up with a blank face. "I have a meeting with Kamiya-sama in two minutes! Could you please _tell him I'm HERE?_"

Rei shot her a dirty look and slammed her filing cabinet shut. "_Alright_ then, little miss princess. I'll _go tell the boss you're here_, you brat!"

This was when Sakura was a bit stunned, but she didn't get to say anything else because the woman then dialed a number on the phone. Was she _hearing right?_ Did this person just call her _a brat?_ And of all things, a _BRAT?_ She was in her twenties and still a brat. She couldn't believe anyone would call her that. Besides, if _anyone_ were a brat it was this 'Rei' girl who thought she was just too good to talk to her.

"Kamiya-sama, there's a girl here for you." Strange, Rei seemed awfully respectful talking to the boss.

"What's her name?"

"Kinomoto Sakura," the cherry blossom sent back without a thought.

"Nobody asked _you_," the rude lady behind the desk stated coldly. "Kinomoto Sakura," was what she said as she pressed the button to be heard on the other side.

It wasn't a shock to Sakura this time, but simply enraging. What was with this girl? Was she just a good, all out female dog or was she actually bothered by her?

"Send her in."

"Yes sir," Rei responded turning back to Sakura. "Through the door over here. It's the first one on the right."

"Okay, thanks," she answered, remembering her manners even though there was an intense urge to rip the woman's chest off, but that was just really, really violent. Perhaps working with Sakaki so long had rubbed off on her.

"Wait," the dark-brunette called after her. Sakura faced her. "Wouldn't you rather be _carried_ in? I mean, princesses really _do_ deserve the best! Or better yet! I could give you a manicure! Anything for _little miss princess!_"

'Little miss princess' threw her best 'I-could-kick-your-pathetic-ass-any-day' look at the slutty secretary whose voice had been dripping with sarcasm. This girl was honestly getting on her nerves and she was going to give it to her bad if one more insulting or sarcastic word came out of that witch's mouth.

"_Oh! My wonderful princess!_ I just _love_ you _sooo_ much! I completely _worship _you everyday of my life!" Rei continued with the sarcasm, more sarcastic than ever.

Something inside Sakura just snapped.

_That…annoying __**bitch!**_

She placed her hands on the desk forcefully and looked straight at the secretary, glaring at her as if she could crush her with a gaze.

"What, and you think you're so great?" Sakura asked, not actually directing the question her way. "Well guess what! I've been her for approximately ten minutes I already _know_ that if I ask _anyone_ in this place if you're a manipulative slut who likes to whore herself around to guys, it'll be a definite yes! I'll even bet that you've slept with more men than you the years you've lived, so why don't you go pull your head out of your ass and realize that you're just a sad excuse for a female. Oh! And _here's_ a tip: put on a freaking bra and wear some pants so that nobody has to see your disgusting exposed body parts. Now, good day."

Feeling a whole lot better after seeing the look on Rei's face, the cute cherry blossom skipped up to the door where she was briefly stopped by a man who had just exited it. He was slightly cute, but he couldn't compare to Syaoran at all. His eyes were blue and his hair a dirty blond. He was around the height of 5'8", not very tall at all.

"That, was _totally awesome,_" he declared in shock still. "I'm Haku, by the way."

"Hey," she greeted, shaking his hand, "Sakura. Excuse me, but I've got an important meeting."

"Sure. I hope I see you again," Haku told her as he let go of her hand. "_Seriously._"

Sakura gave him a quick wave and hurried in to go and see her new boss. She entered and took a right, immediately spotting the door. Of course, she knocked.

"In you come," came the calm voice. It made her think about Syaoran's voice, so flowing and teasing.

But there was no time to think about that. She needed to go in and meet her new superior, hoping silently that he was nowhere near as close to Sakaki in violence. Automatically, her hand whipped out from her side and opened the door. The first thing she set her eyes on was a handsome man with black hair who looked her former boss's age. They were so similar it was scary. His eyes were the same red colour as hers too, but the difference was, he seemed very calm and peaceful while she was the exact opposite.

"Take a seat," he offered, directing his hand at a chair in front of his desk.

Sakura nodded and directed herself into the seat, neatly finding a comfortable spot in it. This place really _was_ creepy. His office was organized similar to Sakaki's as well—except there was less beaten up furniture in this place.

"Thank you for having me, Kamiya-sama," she said even if she was kicking herself for leaving in the first place. Why was it that the most important revelations always seem to come at the worst times?

"Hey, I couldn't give up the offer to have an excellent worker in this office. Everyone else in here are just lazy bums," Kamiya replied generously, waving it off. "So how did the Executioner treat you?"

"Huh…?"

"Sakaki."

"Oh, well, she was a bit…um…"

"Violent? Yes, I know. Well now, your office is all set up. It's number fourteen down the hall. You'll be getting the same pay if you didn't know that yet, so get out of here and do your work, will ya?"

She gave another nod before standing up and bowing to his in respect. After this she scurried away to find her office and send an email to Syaoran.

-

"I need to talk to you,"

Syaoran spun around so fast that he almost blacked out. Luckily, he didn't and saw Eriol standing in the doorway of his office.

_I knew this place needed a lock._

"About what?" he asked in exasperation. There was nothing that the dude would believe unless it involved something that matched his insecurities.

"I want—no, I _need_ to know why you helped Tomoyo cheat on me," he demanded, stepping forward with the intention of getting answers that didn't exist.

"She did not cheat on you and I didn't help her with anything but coping with the loss of Sakura," Syaoran explained, slamming his forehead on the table, careful not to hurt himself.

"Don't lie."

"See, that's _exactly_ it," he shouted, lifting up his head just to make it louder. He needed to make noise to vent his frustration. "You don't spend the morning with your girlfriend, and then at noon you see her talking to me so you assume the worst."

"I'm speaking the truth."

"Oh _please!_ Why in the world would I want take your girlfriend away from you? You knew for the longest time that I was hell bent on getting Sakura,"

"Then why did you do it?" Eriol inquired, still not understanding the brunette's point.

"I _didn't do it!_" he yelled as his fists crashed against the table.

The navy-haired guy let out a snicker. "You're worse than a pig. You won't even admit what you did."

"Yeah, well at least I'm not an asshole. Your reason for breaking up with Tomoyo was the most pathetic excuse I've ever heard."

"I'm just going to leave, and until I get a confession, I don't want to hear a word you say. If you decide to I'll be with Mizuki, my _new_ girlfriend," Eriol notified him cockily.

Syaoran almost choked when he heard that name. Another slut? Oh man, things were getting _really_ twisted around this place.

"Mizuki? You can't be serious," he coughed out in disbelief.

"What? Sad that I took another one from your fan club?" the glasses-wielding man asked as if he were above the amber-eyed man.

"No, just surprised you'd go that low, and a day after your last girlfriend too," Syaoran retorted, voicing his actual opinion.

"Whatever,"

After those last words, Eriol left and he waited for time to pass. What was he waiting for again…? Oh right, his lunch break. He'd tell Tomoyo about this later, but first he needed to grab a bite to eat and check he email for a message from Sakura. Think about it made him want to bounce in his seat, but that's what little kids did, not men like him.

Tick…

Tick…

_YES! THE CLOCK STRIKES TWELVE!_

_Man, I'm outta here._

-

Tomoyo couldn't focus on anything at all. Everything was so messed up and nothing made sense anymore. She only wanted all the bad stuff to go away so there would be a happily ever after, but that was what Sakura had looked for and her situation was completely chaotic. Wishing for Eriol to become like his normal, if not less clingy, self was an idea that had been thrown out the window long ago. Her heart hurt, throbbing with the need for her ex-boyfriend, but there was not a thing that would fix it. A hammer and a wrench would only make it worse because repairing their relationship would be impossible since Eriol wouldn't listen.

Her heart hurt still, and it was breaking too. She was struggling to hold on by that thread that clung to hope. It seemed that the hope wouldn't be enough though as Eriol was slipping further and further away from her grasp.

She inhaled slowly and deeply, walking down the corridors of the office. Tomoyo thought maybe she would be okay and given some time her mostly cracked heart could be revived.

Or not.

She turned the hall and the hanging thread of hope shattered in front of her eyes. All she wanted to do was cry.

There he was, intimately and hungrily kissing Mizuki. His right hand was on the back of her head stroking her hair while the other clutched her back to keep her close.

Tomoyo's breath became ragged as she tried to breathe, but it wasn't working very well. Tears began to fall from her eyes as she stared, dazed at the painful sight.

Her heart hurt.

A lot.

* * *

**Author's Note:** DRAMA! OH DRAMA! So... how'd you guys like Rei? She's quite annoying, isn't she. Honestly though, I dont think ANYONE can be that frustrating in real life. Alrighty then! Did you like it? Did you hate it? Constructive criticism appreciated? Duh...

Please review? Come on! We're near a hundred here!


	12. Life's Never Fair

**Disclaimer:** I don't… own CCS… _Dies…_

**Author's Note:** This day has gone for so long and it REALLY needs to end, so this is the second last chapter for it. It'll end next chapter near the beginning. That, I promise. Another thing, I think that my chapters have been lacking some spice, so this is the chapter where stuff is going to make you scream. I sorta left a cliffhanger since I haven't had that in awhile and I must say, we definitely need one.

**To the reviewers: **Hrm… Yes, I know she grew up in Tomoeda, but I'm trying to make this stuff work with the fic, eh? And besides, Kawasaki is really close to Tokyo. You never know what I might do with this advantage… Also: OMGSH! 100 BEAUTIFUL REVIEWS! I LOVE YOU _ALL_ WHO REVIEWED THIS STORY! AND THANK YOU FOR YOUR REVIEWS LAST CHAPTER TOO! WOOT!

I understand I probably won't make it to 200 reviews since there's not that many chapters left, but you can always hope, eh? Another thanks goes out to those who gave me names (eh… sorry totally-misunderstood. I wrote this a few weeks ago) for my OCs (Original Characters). Okay! Okay! Go read the chapter!

* * *

**Chapter 12 – Life's Never Fair**

Syaoran pressed the switch to his computer and waited impatiently for the electronic to finish loading. He couldn't wait for that cherry blossom's mail. It was killing him so slowly that he'd rather jump off a bridge, but then again, he was just exaggerating, as usual. Besides, what would happen if there was no email at all?

_I'd probably be sulking the rest of the day._

Quicker than ever before, the amber-eyed man accessed his email account, his heart beating as fast as if it would if he were running an eight kilometer track. Syaoran scrolled down the page and found a message.

_**Aw…!**__ THANK YOU __**SAKURA!**_

**From Sakura,**

Hello dreamy boy… coughcoughrightcoughcough… Eriol's an asshole? No kidding. He never really liked me anyway. Yes, he did email me, but I'm sure that his version is a bit… modified because of his insecure brain, correct? I have no doubt that you guys aren't lying since Tomoyo called me the other night crying like crazy. Dude, if I ever come back I'm going to kick that guy in the crotch, and possibly you too be always being so cocky.

I had… a little surprise when I arrived at my house and it's making me wish I'd never transferred at all. No idea why I'm telling you this, but you're lucky today so don't get more egotistical than you already are. My EX showed up at my father's house yesterday and acted all perfect when he's pure evil. He should be kneed in his lower parts more than you or Eriol. I HATE him. The pathetic guy even had the nerve to tell my dad he was my boyfriend. I never got the chance to tell my dad the dude wasn't. See? I told you I was telling you stuff. I need to stop typing, but I just can't. I will soon, seriously. You'll see.

Right, now hurry up and message me back. Is Tomoyo okay? You gotta tell me. Told you I'd stop typing.

**Sakura, message end. **

Syaoran stared at the screen for a few seconds. Sakura had an ex… She had an EX… GOD! She had a freaking EX! Man, he really needed to get a hold of himself. Well DUH she went out with some guys before him… Wait a second… THEY WERE NOT GOING OUT.

_There's something seriously wrong with me today. _

_I think Sakura's making me insane. _

He really _was _insane. Oh well… He'd just write…

-

It was pointless and she knew it. Crying over Eriol was the dumbest thing she'd done in ages, yet it was hard to hold herself back. Tomoyo repeatedly told herself that this wasn't her fault and that she hadn't done anything wrong, yet her ex still continued to blame her.

That hurt.

It almost made her believe it herself, but it was wrong and therefore incorrect to believe. She was trying her hardest not to care. Eriol could stick his disgusting tongue in anybody else's mouth if he wanted and she wouldn't be jealous at all… unless it was Sakura. But that would never happen though because the cherry blossom was already hooked on Syaoran.

"Mmm… Eriol, you cutie…" she heard Mizuki murmur seductively.

Right now, the lunchroom was a very unpleasant place. In the corner, two adults were making out intimately while one lonely blue head sat at the table, clutching her fork tightly.

_Sakura was right._

_Hearing your ex being happy with someone else is the worst._

"And you're so beautiful, Mizuki," she heard Eriol whisper back.

Rage boiled up within her. Eriol was supposed to be _her_ man, not Mizuki's. She wanted to steal another guy and kiss him just to show them she could. Both of them wanted to see her suffer and that wasn't going to happen. Tomoyo lifted the fork, _very_ firm in her hand, and took as piece of lettuce into her mouth. She'd just sit her and try to enjoy her salad while those two desperate pieces of trash did… did what they were doing.

Mizuki's giggle flew straight into her ears and her lips began to tremble as she remembered what it was like to feel that way. She chewed, ignoring the uprising feeling it brought to her.

"You're the best girl a guy could ever be with…" Eriol mumbled as Mizuki squealed softly in delight.

Her breath became heavy and the anger built up inside was trying to burst out, like she was going to explode. So then Tomoyo was just another girl, huh? So Mizuki was _so_ much better than she was. So Eriol had just gone around and _used her?_

"GET OUT!" she screamed as she turned around to face the other two. "JUST GET OUT OF HERE RIGHT NOW!"

"F.Y.I., but this is a _staff_ lunchroom. We're just as suitable as you are to be in here," the girl in Eriol's arms retorted with a glare.

"Yeah, and it's called a lunchroom! That doesn't include eating your boyfriend's face off!" she yelled heatedly.

"You're only jealous I have Eriol now," the other woman said arrogantly as she snuggled up closer to him. Eriol smirked.

"Jealous?" Tomoyo asked in disbelief. "_Jealous?_ Why would _I_ be jealous of someone who has the second-hand man? If you haven't noticed, he's just the rebound guy for the girls who get rejected by Syaoran. I wanted to go out with Syaoran too, but I couldn't so I, just like _all the others,_ came to the rebound, neh? Eriol?"

In dead silence, she picked up the plate that held the remains of her salad and tossed it into the trash. Tomoyo left the lunchroom and headed to her office. She'd put all the nasty things her ex had said to her and threw them all back in his face. There was only one thing she was hoping, and that was that Eriol would feel hurt about this. He deserved it and she wasn't guilty or rueful at all for saying it.

-

Syaoran had completed his email to Sakura quickly, but he didn't realize what time it was when he'd finished. Man! He had so much to tell her! He glanced at the clock.

_CRAP! I'm going to be late!_

He shut down his computer with haste and flew out the door.

Unknown to him, he'd forgotten to send his message.

What a dumbass…

-

"Eek! She sounds so cool!" squealed a voice from around the corner.

"Who sounds cool?" asked Sakura, eager to meet her new coworkers.

A girl with slightly lighter hair than her own turned to see her. She wore pigtails and a standard outfit for work, which consisted of a blouse and skirt. She looked much nicer than that _Rei_ whose _womanly areas_ seemed like they'd fall out of their place any second. Her eyes looked… yellow? Yes, her eyes were a pretty shade of yellow. The brunette was standing with Haku and another girl.

The other's hair was light blue and hung down to her shoulders. She had long bangs and an even deeper blue in her eyes. Her face seemed a bit…grumpy, but she looked all right. It was she who wore the pants in this office.

"Um… hi?" Sakura said silently as she stood awkwardly in the room.

"Hi!" replied the yellow-eyed girl. She turned to Haku who lay against the table in the middle of the room while she sat in a chair and the blue head sat on the table. "Haku! Is this her?"

"Yep," he answered, smiling at Sakura with glee. "Sorry, but I just _had_ to tell them about your lecture to Rei."

"Okay…"

"You're so cool! Haku said your name is Sakura?"

"The one and only," she told them, nodding.

The blue head spoke up. "So tell us why you're here,"

Sakura raised an eyebrow at the woman. Her voice was so dull, like a robot and she sounded like Sakura was an invader to Kawasaki. She must really not get out much. Then again, there had to be _someone _cold in her life. Everyone had one. Hopefully, though, this girl wasn't like Lei. He was pure _evil._

"Not unless you tell me your names first," she declared as she took a seat at the table beside the brunette.

"Well then, I'm Sayuri! Sayuri Uchida!" exclaimed the more positive one.

"Keiko Urukawa," replied the girl on the desk. "Now go ahead."

"I guess I'll tell you then. I'm a transfer from Tokyo and I wanted to come to a place that was nearby. Kawasaki's close and my dad owns a house here, so that's why I chose this place," she explained, almost thinking about Syaoran for a second.

"I'm glad you did! Someone needs to set Rei straight!" Haku shouted with joy as he danced around the room happily.

"You didn't answer my question," Keiko pointed out, flipping her hair over her left shoulder.

"Huh…?"

"I asked you why you were here, not why you chose it,"

"Yeah! Come on and tell us!" squealed the brunette, bouncing up and down in her seat. Sakura didn't know whom she liked better. One girl was utterly full of joy and the other was calm to the extent that made her frustrated.

"I uh…"

"Did something happen? Did your father fall ill? Is there a hot guy here? Do you like Haku? Do ya? Do ya? Do ya?" Sayuri questioned her, as her face got closer to Sakura's with every sentence. "Did you have a fight with your friend? Are you attracted to Kamiya-sama? Is it—"

"Shut up, Sayuri. Give the woman a moment to explain," commanded the icy girl.

Sakura, dumbfounded by Sayuri's awfully strange guesses, decided she would give her new coworkers the breakdown, _without_ mentioning Syaoran. She didn't want to think about him nor did she want people to start teasing her so soon. Besides, Haku, Sayuri, and Keiko already thought she was cool. She didn't want to give them a reason not to trust her.

"I had a bad fight with a good friend and this is my way of making it up to her," she told them, looking down quietly.

"What happened? Did you backstab her? Did you start rumours? Did you steal her man? Did you—"

"Sayuri, don't pry into other people's businesses," Keiko scolded the nosy girl as she resigned from her seat on the table and walked away to her office, wherever it was.

"But you were the one who asked Sakura first!" defended the yellow orbed female.

The blunette waved it off and concealed herself in the privacy of her office. Sayuri glared at the door, but quickly got over it and started to swing her legs in the chair.

"Oh well! Keiko's a weirdo! She asks a question and tells other people to stop asking more about that question," she said as she swayed from side-to-side.

"She just knows when to stop, eh Sakura?" Haku supplied helpfully.

"Yeah…" the cherry blossom answered absently. She was too busy wondering how Sayuri had gotten both incidents right somewhere amongst her guesses.

She supposed that she'd… sort of stolen Syaoran, but he didn't belong to Meilin, right? It was impossible for anyone to control their feelings either. So basically, none of this was really her fault except… she couldn't control the one thing she could've, the one thing that had caused this whole mess.

Sakura hadn't been able to control her actions, and that had cost everything.

-

It was empty.

It was so obvious yet hard for her to admit.

Meilin stared at the inside of the agency. The whole place looked so dark and gloomy because… because Sakura was gone. All of it was her own fault too. She should've just given up on Syaoran right when she found out that he liked Sakura. That was long before Christmas too. Then she'd still be here, in the place that made her and everyone else happy.

Instead she'd set a grudge and created a nightmare. Who was she kidding? Meilin was a pathetic little child without her friends by her side. The only two people that she wanted with her again were Sakura and Tomoyo. She didn't care about getting Syaoran anymore. She knew ages ago that he'd never come to her. All Meilin wished for were things to go back to normal.

She was just too scared to say anything.

-

Eriol felt so betrayed inside. Tomoyo had called him backup and it stabbed at him like millions of daggers, but worse. How could this have happened? _She_ cheated on him, so he wasn't supposed to feel bad. He had even lured Mizuki in to make her pay for the destruction she caused, but apparently, he was just the rebound from her rejection of Syaoran. Had Tomoyo ever had any feelings for him? Or were they just lies like her recent unfaithfulness?

Honestly, his relationship with Mizuki was purely physical. There wasn't a pinch of love for her. Once again, he was just using her to get revenge on his ex. It didn't matter anyway. Mizuki seemed to be enjoying it.

Eriol didn't enjoy it. He thought Tomoyo might be hurt by it as she'd demonstrated only briefly a couple of times so he tolerated it. Now, he kind of felt guilty and disgusting. He really didn't know why.

-

Her first day of work, Sakura concluded, had gone pretty well. The one flaw was that she'd made an enemy on the first day, but so what? She'd gotten friends early, and that was always good.

Sakura unlocked the door to her childhood house and stepped inside. She kicked off her shoes and skipped into the kitchen, fairly happily.

"Dad! I'm home! What's for dinner?" she asked cheerfully as she entered the dining area.

"Stir fry noodles!" Fujitaka responded from the living room where it sounded like he was watching T.V.

"Okay! Thanks!" she yelled back, spotting a plate full of steaming goodness. Sakura was about to take the food to the table until she heard the sickest voice she'd ever heard in her life.

"Welcome home, sweet cherry blossom," Lei greeted her with a cool smile.

"It's only home when there's not a man whore in it," she replied venomously. She _loathed_ this guy standing behind her.

"Tsk, tsk. Sweet girls like you are not meant to use mean words like that," he scolded her.

Sakura could feel his… _gross_ eyes on her back. She just wondered…

"Why did you come back anyway?" she asked aggressively. "What is it that you're looking for?"

"I lost a, well, a large bet and I need some cash. I thought, 'Hmm…Sakura's family is quite wealthy….' And it's as simple as that, my dear," he explained to her, smirking and she turned to glare at him. "The option also came with a bonus. A pure, beautiful girl that can be claimed by me,"

"Despicable!" she spat with a step forward. "And not to mention the nastiest thing I've ever heard in my life!"

"I know you love me, Cherry Blossom. Just come here and show it," Lei told her as his wrapped his arms around her waist despite her protests and struggles. He was much stronger than she was.

"Don't touch me!" she screamed with anger, hastily attempting to escape. Fujitaka didn't seem to notice her yell, as there was no sign of movement in the other room.

The sickening man held her waist tightly though, with not even a falter in his arms. Sakura punched his chest, kicked his legs and even tried to shove his face, but he was way to strong and tall for a girl like her. Finally, she ducked down through his arms and broke his hold on her. She ran for the door but instead ended up crashing into the refrigerator. By the time she regained her balance, Lei was standing right in front of her with his hands pressed to on the fridge's door on either sides of her head and his legs blocking hers. Her arms were useless and his face was disturbingly closer than comfort.

"Just give up the fight, Sakura. You won't ever win against me," he whispered as he leaned in closer to her.

She lifted her head away to try and evade his advance, but he used one of his hands to hold her chin. Sakura almost whimpered in fear. However, she wouldn't give him the satisfaction.

"One kiss…" he murmured, getting even closer. "Then tell me what you feel."

She wanted to punch him, kick him, and smash him in the balls, but she was powerless. Lei leaned down and pressed his lips against hers.

* * *

**Author's Note:** EEEWW! SEXUAL HARRASSMENT! But don't worry! Sakura will get out of it somehow, and I hope you like it when she does. Satisfied with this chapter? It's NICE and LONG! I consider this one of my better chapters, so if you like it I hope you say so!

Even IF I'm up to one hundred, PLEASE REVIEW! I get hundreds of hits and only like... eight reviews. Come on guys! I'm doing this for YOU TOO!

So once again, please review!


	13. Touchy, Touchy, eh?

**Disclaimer:** The only things I own are hamsters and a lot of stuffed animals. I don't think I own CCS…

**Author's Note: **Hi guys! I'm back after a long week of bombing tests!... okay, only two of them. This stupid week made me fall behind on my chapter writing! Now I'm only halfway through chapter 14! By the way, I think some of you may have misunderstood what I wrote in my last chapter's author note. I meant that the day in the STORY had to end, not the actual story. There's at least three more chapter. I have no idea. Anyway, here's some good news! Yesterday, I officially turned 14 years old! Haha! I'm done grade eight! Er... yes, I'm young...but I don't date!

**Contest:** I thought of a contest! I baked some nice chocolate chip cookies from air earlier today! Whoever wins this contest will get some. Whichever review finds the best way to kill Lei and/or Rei shall be the winner! Fun? YOU CAN DO IT! PARTICIPATE GUYS!

**To the reviewers: **Ooh! Thanks for those awesome reviews! I think that chapter got the best reviews ever! Not the most, but the best! I appreciate all of them!

* * *

**Chapter 13 – Touchy, Touchy, eh?**

She couldn't believe this was happening to her. Weeks ago she would've been glad to have Lei kiss her, but now it was poison. Sakura pulled her head away from his in anger and disgust. She began to spit wildly, trying to rid herself of the taint on her lips.

"What's wrong, sweet cherry blossom?" he asked without concern as he moved in closer to her again. "Need more convincing?"

"Get away from me _now_ or you're getting it," Sakura hissed. She spit in his face and hoped he would be mad.

"Ugh!" he shouted, moving his arms to wipe away her gladly given saliva.

Sakura saw an opening and she took it. She punched him in the face as hard as she could, but he quickly regained control by holding her arms.

"Try me, but you'll never get away," Lei whispered, his hand tight around her wrists.

"Oh yeah? Just watch and see,"

Sakura head butted his chest as he stumbled backwards. She was going to get him where it _really_ hurt and Lei would pay for everything. He wasn't going to win. Swiftly, she brought her knee up and it connected nicely with the area between his legs.

It stopped there. Lei stopped moving and fell to the ground with a few moans and groans of pain. She grinned and wiped her lips with a cloth on the counter in the kitchen. There, now she felt much cleaner. Sakura knelt down closer to the rolling man on the floor.

"Don't mess with me," she told him calmly as she pulled one of his ears, just to be sure he was listening. "And I told you I'd make you hurt."

The cherry blossom ate a nice dinner and went to bed while the gold digger remained on the floor. Fujitaka? Well, he was very into his T.V. show.

"He got what he deserved," she said to herself, shutting the light in her room.

The kiss had reminded her of Syaoran and how much of a great kisser he was. Compared to his, Lei's was just sad. She drifted off to sleep, attempting to avoid admitting she wanted to kiss the amber-eyed boy.

-

Sakaki had gone to work early in the morning just like always. Only this time, she knew she would have a bad mood for the rest of the day. Of course, yesterday Sakura had gone to her new workplace for the first time and now the old boss had to check up on her. What did this mean? Well, it meant that poor Sakaki had to phone stupid new boss Kamiya. He always made her really pissed off and even worse was that he was far away and therefore she couldn't pound on him to calm her rage. Sakura, though, she hoped would be all right there. That girl was her best worker before and… Sakaki kind of liked her.

Hesitantly, the black haired woman dialed the number and patiently waited for the pick up. As she held the receiver to her ear, she tapped lightly on the table that might be broken later.

"Hello?" came the voice from the other side.

"It's Sakaki," she informed Kamiya, "and I've called to see how Sakura did yesterday."

"Sakaki, it's been a day. How should I know how she's doing?" he responded idly.

"Pay attention to your workers!" she snapped, almost ready to smash something to pieces already. She hated that he was always so calm.

"Hey, just calm yourself and maybe I'll give you something to sate your hunger," Kamiya replied relaxingly.

"DON'T USE HUNGER AS A REPLACEMENT FOR CURIOUSITY!" she yelled into the phone with unsurpassed anger.

"What's the matter Sakaki-_chan?_ Have you snapped a pencil in half yet?"

"SHUT UP! I WANT AN ANSWER TO MY FIRST QUESTION!"

"Once you stop screaming perhaps I'll consider in doing so,"

"YOU'RE THE ONE PROVOKING ME!"

"It's your own fault you've got such an uncontrollable temper."

"IT'S BECAUSE YOU'RE SO DAMN IRRITATING!"

"Sure, and you're the most silent person around."

"I DARE YOU TO SAY THAT AGAIN!"

"Why not? It's not like you can beat me up through the phone."

"I'LL KICK YOUR ASS THE NEXT TIME I SEE YOU!"

"Which is when again? I know you _always_ look forward to seeing me,"

"QUIT USING THE SARCASM AND JUST ANSWER THE FREAKING QUESTION!"

"Again, lower your voice and I just might."

The red-eyed woman breathed heavily, close to going into an extreme rage tantrum, which consisted of a lot of screaming and breaking objects. She took many deep breaths and calmed herself. Sakaki was ready to get some answers although her hands were still quaking with anger.

"Alright," she said softly, voice shaking similarly to her hands, "you can tell me now."

"Mm… I've decided that I won't."

Sakaki exploded.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?! YOU WON'T? I'LL FREAKING KILL YOU SO SLOWLY WITH A KNIFE THAT YOU'LL BEG FOR MERCY! FIRST I'LL START BY NEUTERING YOU LIKE A DOG AND THEN I'LL TORTURE YOU BY STAPLING YOU TO A WALL WHILE SHOWING YOU PICTURES OF NAKED GIRLS! AFTER THAT I'LL—"

"Calm down, Sakaki—"

"—COVER YOUR BODY WITH SHALLOW CUTS AND THROW YOU IN A FOUNTAIN OF LEMON JUICE UNTIL YOU—"

"—I was just—"

"—SCREAM LOUD ENOUGH SO THAT THE WHOLE WORLD KNOWS WHAT A LITTLE GIRL YOU ARE! THEN I'LL COVER YOU IN HONEY SO THAT ALL THE BEES COME AND—"

"SAKAKI-SAN!"

"WHAT DO YOU WANT?"

"I was _kidding._ Jeez woman, can't take a joke?" he asked in slight annoyance.

_Wow…_ Sakaki had _never_ in her whole life heard this man lose his cool, even if it was just a bit. _Finally_ she'd made him mad. It was practically a life goal.

"Whatever, just give an answer already," she replied with a smirk on her face, not remembering that he couldn't exactly see her.

"Fine, but only if you wipe that smirk off your face," Kamiya told her, now sounding exactly as chilled out as he always did.

She frowned. How did he know? "There's not one on," she lied hastily.

"Whatever you say, liar," he mumbled carelessly. Sakaki was about to shout at him again, but he took away the chance. "Now Sakura, I watched her a few times yesterday and checked up on her fairly often just to see how she was fitting in. She's doing fine and it looks like she's already made friends with some of her coworkers. She looks cheerful enough and she works hard. Does that seem like a good enough report to you?"

"Yeah, and it would've been much easier if you weren't such a pain in the ass," she replied dryly.

"It's only because your ass is very enjoyable to pain. Now goodbye,"

The other end of the line went dead and the great Sakaki found herself blushing. Did he just talk about her _ass _(besides the fact that it was accompanied by 'is very enjoyable to pain') She mentally slapped herself. Kamiya would always be a jerkass, and besides, she had better things to think about rather than him and his infuriating comments.

One thing was just very uncommon happened in that room. The black-haired boss looked around and saw that there wasn't the least of splintered furniture in the room. That wasn't right…

-

Syaoran walked into the office that morning only to hear the typical yelling and screaming coming from his boss's room. There was something about cuts and fountains of lemon juice, but he didn't really care. Currently his whole life felt like it wasn't reality. Maybe he was dreaming because he didn't remember being so miserable in his life, ever. It was a feeling of being…being a zombie. Man, he was so tired of this. Everyday was the same here now. Eriol and Mizuki doing their thing where it pleased them, Tomoyo wandering around in the same state as him and Sakaki yelling at everybody more often than usual. If things here were going to be this way forever, he thought maybe it would be a good idea if he just curled up into a corner and slept forever. It was better than this nightmare.

Syaoran knocked on the door to Tomoyo's office before opening the door to find her crying inside.

"Tomoyo? You okay?" he asked gently as he closed the door.

"I'm fine," she responded through sobs and tears. "I said things to him, things that aren't true and I didn't feel bad at all, but I guess it just came back to hit me in the morning."

"You shouldn't feel guilty because he treated you like dirt," he told her sympathetically.

"But it's hard!" Tomoyo wailed loudly. "It's so hard! He's trying to hurt me and so I tried to hurt him! What do you do when you wake up in the morning only to realize you've made the whole thing worse?"

"I really don't know…" he whispered quietly. This situation was impossible.

"He _is_ hurting me, and I can't do a thing because no matter how mean he treats me or how badly he hurts me, I still can't control what I feel! My love for him won't go away, even if I want it to!" she cried as she buried her face in her arms.

"I'm sorry I can't help you," Syaoran apologized while he looked at the depressed female close to him. "I'm sorry that Eriol is such an idiot."

There was no response from her. She was too busy crying her face off and he just wanted it all to stop. People like her didn't deserve this pain.

-

Outside the door to Tomoyo's office Eriol leaned against the door as remorse took over. So…everything she'd said was true? He'd put everyone through this for nothing? But then…why had he thought that?

He was ashamed of himself. He already _knew_ the answer. Eriol had gotten so attached to her that _he_ was the one jealous of Syaoran. When Sakura had transferred, he felt so left out because he had never really been good friends with the emerald-eyed girl. While he was over in one place, Tomoyo and his 'best friend' were in another, comforting each other from the despair they felt over the cherry blossom.

Drama. He threw drama everywhere and tried to his love because he felt excluded. Usually it would be just them, boyfriend and girlfriend in their own little world. Was he…_clingy?_ Is _that_ what it was? He was revolted with himself.

Eriol had to clean up the mess he'd made, and he had to do it now. Just like all the others who did stupid things, he realized that it was too late.

-

It was after work and Sakura went to check her email. Lei hadn't even bothered her since her nice knee in the area, so in general, it was a pretty good day! If Syaoran had emailed her, it would be even better! She logged on with incredible speed only to find disappointment waiting for her. Maybe he had been busy. The office had been hectic for the last couple of days, if what he said was true. She didn't know his reply back time either, since she'd only received one message from him in her entire life.

Still, the brunette couldn't hide her sadness from this. She was so excited, but now she recognized that she had let the hope get to her. Whatever. So what if he hadn't replied back yet. She'd just have to write him again…

-

Tomoyo attempted to rid herself of those tearstained eyes, but they wouldn't go away. They were all red and puffy from crying so much. It was going to be so embarrassing walking home like this. Oh well. There was absolutely nothing she could do, nor was there a reason to cry. It didn't help in any way, but there was no way of stopping the waterworks.

_I'm going to pull it together._

_I'll be okay._

She left the office with her head low. Perhaps people wouldn't see her eyes like this. However, as soon as she exited those glass doors she heard someone calling her name.

"Tomoyo! Tomoyo! Wait up!"

The blue-headed girl turned around and was surprised to see her ex-boyfriend running to catch up with her. What stunned her even more was that he didn't seem bitter or angry in any way.

"What do you want, Eriol?" she asked him, sighing with sorrow.

"I just wanted to say that I'm sorry and that I understand now," he told her, ashamed.

"Okay, so you apologized," she said quietly, "but that still doesn't make up for everything you've done."

"I know… I was stupid and I was jealous," he admitted as he looked away.

"Then you know that, so why else are you here?" Tomoyo asked, the tears ready to start all over again.

"I know I was an idiot and I'm sorry again! I can't even say how sorry I am! I broke up with Mizuki too because I'm not in love with her! I love you Tomoyo!" he confessed with regret.

"So what do you want me to say? Huh? Look at all the pain you've caused!" she yelled angrily.

"I know! I know! But I love you and I just want to fix things! Please take me back!" Eriol shouted pleadingly, grabbing her wrist.

Suddenly, Tomoyo had no idea what to say.

* * *

**Author's Note:** Just had to find another cliffhanger. That last one seemed so good. This one is...eh! Maybe not as good, but it's a cliffy! Remember, whoever kills Lei and/or Rei in the best way gets a batch of free chocolate chip made out of air cookies!

Participate in the contest my good readers! Also, review!...PLEASE!


	14. Evil Plans for a Good Cause

**Disclaimer:** Hey, I'm just borrowing the characters here! CCS does not at all belong to me.

**Author's Note:** Hey everyone! I was supposed to update last Friday, but my parents planned a last minute vacation on Saturday and didn't allow me to go on. Oh well. I've got chapter 15 done already, so be good and review! Man, I'm so glad it's summer. My exercise has been intense sessions of DDR at home. SO FUN! I can finally pass heavy! (Must stop bragging) Hey, shut up Hawk! Okay, being selfish. You guys shouldn't have to suffer this. Also, timeskip this chapter.

**Cookie Winner:**q.t a.k.a spice would be the winner here! I grant you my cookies! HAHAAAHAHA! That was a good laugh! Besides, I can't imagine Lei saving Sakura from being hit by a car. Heroic? I don't think so, Lei! Hehe... sorry!

**To the reviewers: **I love you guys! Dang, only seven for that last chapter. Oh well. Can't complain, I guess. You people like Sakaki and Kamiya moments? HAHA! Got some here! (Hey, totally-misunderstood! I'm actually already in highschool. We don't have middle school where I live. Also, thanks for the HBD wish!) Alrighty, thanks to all my reviewers and might I ask you to review for this chapter as well? They are happyful an appreciated! Read on!

* * *

**Chapter 14 – Evil Plans for a Good Cause**

"I-I…" she stuttered out, utterly shocked.

"Please, Tomoyo," he implored silently, "I need an answer. I know what an ass I was and I want to make things right."

She looked this over in her mind a thousand times, but Tomoyo still didn't know what to do. It was odd that she'd wished for this scene over and over in the past days and now she was speechless. Eriol was asking her for an answer that she couldn't give.

He wanted an answer though, and she was aware of this when his grip on her wrist didn't loosen. She had to respond to his request, and running away wasn't an option.

"No," she blurted out without knowing.

"W-what?" he asked in fear, hoping he wasn't hearing right.

Suddenly, she was conscious of her actions. Why couldn't he just leave her alone? Hadn't he caused her enough pain already?

"I said no!" she repeated with a mix of anger and sadness. Tomoyo knew exactly what she was doing now. She was breaking his heart, the way he broke hers.

"But I-I thought you…loved me…?" Eriol mumbled, his hand now clutching her wrist more lightly.

"I do, Eriol. I really do, but…" she replied as she looked away from him. She couldn't bear to see the hurt in his eyes. This was for the best. "I loved you, and I still do, but you wouldn't trust me, trust that I would stay faithful to you and so you tried to hurt me—"

"And I'm sorry! A million times over! You know that I love you too!" he defended weakly.

"Of course, but Eriol, just listen! I can see that you admit your mistakes, but you can't undo what's already been done! I can't be with someone who won't trust me or wants to hurt me because of it! You put the knife in and twisted it, and the wound you gave me won't heal. I can forgive you, but I can't forget it. You hurt me so much, so I can't be with you anymore," she explained, starting to cry again.

"But—"

"No," she interrupted.

Tomoyo didn't care whether people were staring at her or not. She wanted to cry, so she was going to cry.

She walked fast after breaking away from him. The comfort of her home was waiting.

-

Syaoran was checking his email again. He'd been on the computer a lot lately, he found. It was for Sakura though, so he wasn't complaining. Delighted could be a word used for how he felt when he found another message in his inbox, but the word was so twinkle-happy that he thought maybe glad was the word.

**From Sakura,**

Hi again, you moron. I'm doing pretty well down here now. I've dealt with my ex for a while, which means he won't be bothering me anytime soon and I've made good friends at work. I'm so _happy!!_

I met someone called Keiko who seems to be somewhat of a brutally honest person, but she's pretty nice. Sayuri is crazy. I think she's one of those girls who goes around gossiping like mad, but once again she's nice. Then there's a guy named Haku. So far, I think I like him the most. He is _awesome_. I definitely like him more than _you_…ya jerk!

Tell Tomoyo I wish her the best!

**Sakura, message end. **

After reading Sakura's message, Syaoran felt as if he'd been stabbed a minimum of twelve times in the crotch and then shot eighty-seven times in the back. Was she _joking?_ He thought that maybe she was getting the message, that he liked _her_ and not Meilin. Maybe she had and just didn't care.

Damn! He was hurt! This really was not good for his pride and worse for his heart… What kind of cheese was he turning _into?_

Syaoran wanted to break something. He didn't care about pretending to be cool and all that. He was candid, and he was freaking jealous. Really, how could _any girl_ be so dense? THAT WAS THE GUY'S JOB! He'd even said it out in the open before! He'd _kissed_ her too!

"ARRRGGHHH!" he groaned in exasperation.

Also, what about this Haku guy? Did the cherry blossom have a crush on him? Was he a jerk underneath it all? Did he attract all sorts of girls? Did he wear good smelling cologne?

_Ugh! Why do I care? _

_I come with all natural smells, and they're __**good!**_

No way Sakura could like this 'Haku!' He'd jumped through many hoops for her. There were literally traps all around her, and every time he tried to get close, his foot got caught in a mousetrap or an angry lion attacked him.

Sure, he was glad she was happy, but he was so _jealous._ Haku, Haku, Haku with Sakura! That's all he could think about! His brain would EXPLODE SOON!

…So what of him? Was Syaoran really that bad? Haku-_kun_ sounded much better than him. Apparently, he was _awesome_ and _definitely more likable than him_.

His brain was not functioning properly. He had no right to be angry. Hurt and jealous, those were his right. Anger, however, could not be a feeling to him right now. Sakura had done nothing wrong, she was just telling him about her life. He shouldn't worry her. She should be having fun with her new friends, even if they were very recent. He would make her happy because that's all he wanted her to be.

-

The tension was horrible at work. Meilin could feel the bad vibes even before she entered the office. A little voice in the back of her conscience, A.K.A. her guilt, repeatedly told her that this whole mess was her fault. Nobody could look another in the eye in this place. Syaoran wouldn't look at her, Mizuki wouldn't look at Syaoran or Eriol, Eriol wouldn't look at Mizuki or Tomoyo, Tomoyo wouldn't look at Eriol or Mizuki, and she couldn't face anybody _except_ Mizuki.

The whole place was chaos. I couldn't be legal to have this much stress and frustration built up in one place.

If only Sakura were here…

-

Two days after Sakura had sent Syaoran her last message, she checked her email once again. Today she was in a great mood! Work was fun and Lei hadn't come to her house ever since that injury she'd inflicted on him. Her dad didn't even ask her about him because of her scream! Maybe Kawasaki wasn't so bad after all.

She clicked on a new message in her inbox and proceeded to read it.

**From Syaoran,**

Glad you're having a good time.

**Syaoran, message end. **

The cherry blossom scrolled down to see if there was more, but there wasn't. Pausing in her thought, she slowly shut off her computer and lay down on her bed.

_One line?_

_Only one line?_

How long had it taken him to send that message? Five seconds? Was she only worth that much of his time in his life? Sakura reflected back to Christmastime. He'd yelled at her, screamed his feelings to the whole world, and then kissed her. Maybe he was just another guy trying to get into her pants back then—except for some reason, he hadn't wanted her to think that he was dating Tomoyo.

"Why only one line…?" she murmured softly to herself. Perhaps Syaoran would send another message soon…

-

Six Months Later 

-

It was early in the morning when Sakaki heard her phone ring. However, the tired boss didn't answer it because she was half-asleep and hadn't thought of that option.

"What is that ringing noise…?" the droopy-eyed woman asked nobody in particular.

After five rings the sound stopped.

Ahh… Nice and quiet… 

RIIIIIING!

The stupid thing started ringing again—only about ten seconds after last one. Suddenly, she realized what the problem was and reflexively picked up the phone.

"Sakaki here… hello…?" she greeted sleepily.

"Tired, Sakaki? Do something exhausting in bed late last night?"

"W-_what_? I—you pervert!" she yelled angrily, instantly becoming fully awake.

"Good, you're awake. We must discuss a very important matter," Kamiya informed her calmly.

"And _what_ exactly is so important that you need to use such perverted comments on me to wake me up?" she asked with a piece of paper crumpling within in fingers.

"Sakura,"

Okay, _now_ she was paying attention. What could be wrong with her beloved former employee?

"I'm listening," Sakaki told him sincerely.

"I am finding that Sakura's effort in her work has been going down in the past few months. I can tell that there is something wrong," he explained. He was being very blunt. Pure Kamiya. "I must ask, is there anything wrong that could be connected at your location to Sakura?"

"I would say it's just her crappy boss," she muttered automatically, as she wasn't exactly listening. Only listening to that enticing voice coming through the phone…

"Excuse me?"

"I-I…well, I just meant to say uh… What was the question again?"

She heard him sigh on the other side of the line. Sakaki briefly wonder what she'd said. _Why was she so distracted?_ It wasn't like her. Seriously, _WHAT THE HECK!_ He must be really tired of repeating himself.

"Do you think Sakura is having problems with one of your employees?" Kamiya asked in simpler words than before. "I know there's nothing wrong here. She's acted fine with everyone here and it's easy to tell when she's being fake. However, the quality of her work has gone down greatly. She's zoning out often at random times too, as well as looking very exhausted everyday."

"When she left here, she didn't go with exactly the best reputation. It could be about one of her old friends that work here or, more reasonably, a potential love interest," she answered thoughtfully. She may have not been _totally_ honest with that answer because she knew precisely what this was about. "I'd say it's connected to the employee here, that also has lowered work records."

"Like you, maybe?"

"Yeah, well, I've just been thinking of new ways to beat you up!"

"I think I'll pass on that. The old bruises still haven't healed from that last party."

Right, that last party that they'd been forced to dance together just to satisfy the big boss. She remembered it clearly; their bodies so close and moving slowly when he'd made a perverted comment that provoked her to kick his ass. That was only a couple weeks ago. Highly unpleasant.

"Whatever. Regarding Sakura's current condition, it's definitely about a guy from here. She left without giving him a goodbye," Sakaki responded.

"Then I suppose we'll just have to scheme together," he concluded with such utter calmness that it was scary. She shook it off.

"Oh yes, I suppose we will!" she cackled evilly. Sakura and Syaoran better watch out, because love was going to hit them like a brick wall!

-

He had the urge to kill himself. Not literally, of course, but he was already brain-dead, so what did it matter if he was dead?

Need he say it again? This whole stupid place was a mess! Tomoyo had been trying her hardest to get over Eriol, and still, after half a year, she was still hung up over him. Holy heck! _She_ was the one who let him go! The intensity of the situation was going to blow up the place! Words were useless! Feelings, the special thing in life, were useless too! He would gladly jump into a pile of dog crap if all this stuff were to disappear as quickly as it was to flush a toilet.

Sakura, too, had been on his mind. Then again, she was never _not_ on his mind. With so many unanswered questions left floating in the air, how could he not think about her? It was such a long time ago that he sent that email. Syaoran remembered sending her one line because he was so unsure of what to say. With the Haku thing and the…_everything,_ he really didn't know what to write to her. After, she'd never wrote him again. Another question: Was she having so much of a good time that she had forgotten all about him?

A yell of Sakaki interrupted his thoughts.

"GET OUT HERE, YOU LAZY DUMBASSES!" she commanded, excessively loud.

-

"Saaaaaakuuuuuuuuuuraaaaaaaaaaa!" Sayuri shouted through the door.

"Um, yes?" she replied, her thoughts of Syaoran still lingering.

"Kamiya wants us all out here! He's got some sort of an announcement!" supplied the hyper girl helpfully.

"Kay! One second!" Sakura called back.

She got up with the amber-eyed boy only remaining in her mind. She had been trying the playing-hard-to-get strategy, and frankly, it wasn't working. Nevertheless, she didn't want to pop out of nowhere and disrupt his life like that. He _must_ be having a good time without her or else he would've emailed her back by now, right? Argh! This was so confusing, frustrating and well, she just wanted him to reciprocate her feelings! Playing hard-to-get was the only thing making her not email him. Besides, she didn't have the nerve to do it. He was probably having a great time with her not blowing up bombs everywhere and causing damage to his fairytale.

Exiting her office, she walked over the table in the middle and took a seat between Haku and Keiko. At least she still had them.

"Everyone," Kamiya greeted as he stepped out of his office, "shut up."

All in the room closed their mouths hastily.

"The following people will be coming with me on somewhat of a field trip: Sakura, Haku, Keiko, and Sayuri. The secretary will also be coming with us. She's going to help a certain person we are to visit, with paperwork. Tamaki is to be in charge while we are gone," he told them unenthusiastically. Something else, however, told Sakura that he was excited about going on this trip.

"So…where are we going?" asked Haku reluctantly, as if afraid to talk to the boss.

"The Tokyo designer's agency," he replied, "where Sakura was from."

Two words struck her: Oh crap.

* * *

**Author's Note: **Like it? Ideas just keep buzzing up to me for this story. It might go over twenty chapters, but I highly doubt it. Okay then! Whatever, COOKIES FOR ALL MY REVIEWERS!

Please review, dearies!


	15. Ass Kicking

**Disclaimer:** Jeebus guys, ask yourselves who owns CCS. Now, is it me? I DON'T THINK SO! And, yes, Tamaki's from Ouran, which I do not own, but I can use the name because names aren't owned by people! HAHHAHAHAA!

**Author's Note (Important): **Okay, this chapter has a bit of dirty talk, so if you don't understand that stuff or find it very offensive, you'd best not read that part. I wouldn't get it if you _didn't_ understand though, because this fic is rated TEEN. Anyway, it's a part with Sakura and Rei arguing, just so you know. Personally, it's my favourite part. Also, really sorry about the two three week waits in a row. I know it's horrible, but you people are lucky. I almost missed my internet time today too.

**To the reviewers: **I'm still surprised that my reviews are actually over 100, but I LOVE it! Everytime I look at the number my head hits the ceiling, probably causing more brain damage than what I already have, D. You guys make my really happy, and I hope that makes you feel good. Here's your reward: a good...uh... longer chapter then usual. Have fun!

* * *

**Chapter 15 – Ass Kicking**

Syaoran trudged outside his office to see what the loud boss wanted. How unusual. It was a staff meeting. Everyone was gathering around Sakaki. He, however, just leaned against a wall.

"Shut up and listen, you idiots!" shouted the raven-headed superior.

Nobody wanted to mess with the scary woman, so the room silenced completely within a matter of seconds.

"Good, now I wanted to let you stupid employees that we are getting six visitors from another designer agency. Well, same company, different location and whatever. I don't care. Just make sure you're on good behaviour. If you make me look bad, I will punish you _however_ I see fit. Understand? Good, get back to work."

That was it? _That_ interrupted his thinking time? Man, how time wasting. Visitors were stupid. Not just stupid, they were also arrogant, thinking that just because they were guests, they could make you do anything they wanted you to or else they'd give your boss a bad report. That wouldn't be good, especially with Sakaki as your boss. She'd do more then just fire you.

"Wait! Sakaki," he called after her.

"_What did you call me?_" she asked him menacingly.

"I-I m-mean… Sakaki-sama," Syaoran corrected himself nervously.

"That's right, so what do you want?"

"Who's coming and when?" It would be a good idea to understand whom he was dealing with.

"Oh, just some people, not that important really. They're coming in three days," she informed him without much detail.

"Okay then…" he replied carelessly.

So, in three days he'd be annoyed out of his mind by six irritating designer employees that were not from here. How could life get any worse?

…_Maybe I shouldn't have thought that._

_Things always tend to get worse no matter what._

-

"T-Tokyo…?" she stuttered in fear. This _could not_ be happening.

"Need I repeat myself, Kinomoto?" Kamiya asked, raising an eyebrow.

"No, Kamiya-sama," Sakura answered as she shook her head.

"Good. We leave at the time work begins in three days. Meet in my office and bring clothes enough to last you a week," he told them, ready to leave his employees.

"What are we going _in?_" Haku asked, clearly curious about the whole thing. "And why are we the only ones going?"

"You are going for reasons that are confidential and we are going in a limo," came the boss's smooth response.

"Ooh! A limo!" shouted Sayuri happily as she jumped up and down with glee. "It's so big and pretty inside!"

"Once again, stating the obvious," Keiko commented with a sigh.

"Why a limo, Kamiya-sama?" the questioning man inquired.

"Because I don't want to be stuck in a tiny little car with four moody women and an idiot who asks too many questions, now shut up and get back to work," he retorted coldly.

"Yes sir," they said in unison.

Sakura moved slowly back to her office, making sure to pinch herself along the way. In fact, she pinched herself in the same spot so many times that that part of her skin started to turn red. The bad thing was, it actually hurt. What was she going to do? Fate kept throwing her cruel obstacles in life and one by one, they were ripping the life she once loved into pieces. Haku automatically appeared beside her with concern written across his face.

"Are you okay, Sakura?" he asked, genuinely worried. "You look pale."

"I-I do?" she mumbled, still trying to figure out what the heck was going on.

"Yeah, why don't you come into my office and take a rest," Haku suggested as he took her arm in his hand and gently pulled her towards his working area.

"Sure…" she replied, following his lead to another office. She'd been inside it many times and the loads of stationary on his desk would never be tiring to look at. Hesitantly, Sakura took a seat while staring into space, lost in thought.

"So… what's up?" he offered politely.

"I just… When I transferred here, I thought that I wouldn't have to go back to that office again," said the emerald-eyed woman.

"Did something bad happen there?"

"I'm sorry," she apologized quickly. "I don't want to talk about it."

"Well, I won't force you," was his hasty reply that said he accepted her apology, "but I wanted to ask you something else…"

Sakura turned to look at him but his eyes were occupied on looking at the ground. This was a bit strange and gradually turning more awkward by the second. She had no idea why, but the pit of her stomach was giving her this bad feeling that something horrible were to happen next.

"Um, yes?"

" I uh… well… you've uh… been here for a little over half a year now, and I… see, I wanted to know if you would ever consider—"

"Haaaaakuuuuu!" shouted a cheerful voice as the door swung open with a playful brunette bursting in. Sayuri pounced onto the male's back and finally saw Sakura sitting in a chair, staring at her. "Oh, hi Sakura! I didn't know you were here too!"

"N-no! It's fine," she replied, shaking her head and smiling, "we were just talking is all."

"Grow up, Sayuri," scolded another voice—Keiko's.

"Aw! You're mean, Keikii!"

"Do not call me that,"

"Why not?"

"Because it's annoying,"

"But why is it annoying?"

"Because my name is Keiko, so say it right."

"I like Keikii better!"

"No,"

"Come on! It sounds _nice!_"

"It does not, so shut up now."

"But Keikii!"

"It's _Keiko._"

"Honestly, you guys argue way too much," Sakura said with a laugh.

"It's only because Sayuri has the brain of a carrot," explained the icy girl defensively.

"Carrots don't have brains," Sayuri shot back as she pouted.

"Exactly," was Keiko's reply.

The woman with yellow eyes seemed to be confused. She squinted at her opponent, trying to figure out what the "exactly" meant.

"Looks like our conversation will have to wait," the cherry blossom whispered to Haku as they watched the battle continue silently.

"Yeah…" he said, sounding a little disappointed, but she ignored it. This was too funny.

After a couple of minutes of quiet, Sayuri finally screamed, "You think I have no _brain?_"

"Took you long enough,"

"I do so have a brain! I can get brain scans to prove it!"

Keiko shook her head in irritation. "I can't believe you think I mean that in a literal sense."

Meanwhile, Sakura and Haku burst out in laughter.

_Live in the moment._

_I'll deal with the Tokyo stuff later._

-

The extremely bored brunette slammed his head on the desk in front of him as his best friend rambled on and on about how much he missed his ex-girlfriend while pacing back and forth in front of the table. Eriol had apologized to him long ago and had been torturing him with his annoying complaints ever since.

It was almost the same when he was talking to Tomoyo. She was miserable without him and blah, blah, blah about Eriol not trusting her and how he was such a jerk.

Honestly, was he supposed to be a shrink? Because Syaoran Li was no shrink.

"I mean, I really can't blame her for not taking me back. I was such an idiot. Man, I was—no, I _am_ lucky _you_ don't hate me right now. Tomoyo, I'm certain that she hates my guts though. I think that I really need to move on, but I can't. I don't even remember how long it's been since… since… well…" Eriol raved dejectedly.

"What? She rejected you?" Syaoran finished cruelly.

"Uh, yeah. To put it bluntly," answered the blunette, visibly shocked at his best friend's nastiness.

"Look, Eriol," he started tiredly, "I really need some time to be alone right now, so could you leave?"

The guy stared at him blankly. "Sure, I'll see you later."

And so finally, the never-going-to-move-on man left his office. What a relief.

_I can hear myself think! Yes!_

Suddenly, Sakura popped into his mind. That really wasn't right. He should be over her already, but there was something inside him that just wouldn't let go—not that he would ever admit it. After she went to Kawasaki, his life was never the same. As a matter of fact, it sucked. He'd been over this topic many times and it repeated in his head continuously. Syaoran needed a new topic to cover. Everything else was super old.

"Syaoran?" asked a female voice from the door.

"Yeah, Tomoyo," he replied. Great, just perfect. More complaints were coming his way.

"I'm so glad you're here. I couldn't stop thinking about him all morning. Even when Sakaki was yelling at us… or at least it think she was yelling at us…" Tomoyo stated thoughtfully as she stepped into the room. "I hate it. Why can't I stop thinking about him?"

"Oh man, you _really don't know?_" he asked in exasperation, but kept on going before she could open her mouth to answer. "It's because you're still in love with him, miserable that you're not with him, and hope that he's miserable that he's not with you either!"

"I—"

"Well, guess what? He _is _miserable he's not with you, so why don't you two just get back together and have nice make up sex or something?" Syaoran suggested quickly.

The look on her face was priceless, but he was too frustrated to enjoy it. "It-it can't be that simple!"

"But it is. You two despise life without each other, so forgive and forget and that idiot you're in love with will have learned a lesson. After that, you can live happily ever after, the end," he told her.

"Syaoran, you can't be serious," she said with wide eyes.

"I'm so serious right now, so you better believe it," he threw back as his wonderful rotating chair turned to face the door. He really loved it. Those wheels on the bottom were great… okay, off topic. "ERIOL! GET IN HERE!"

It was approximately five seconds when the guy reached the door. "Yeah?"

The amber-eyed man stood up and went to meet his friend at the door before pushing him inside and stepping out of his office. He promptly closed the door and since the door didn't lock on the outside, he held onto the doorknob so the two inside couldn't get out. Syaoran was sure this would work and finally, he would be able to get some peace and quiet during work.

_Man, I make up the best plans._

-

Sakura was just leaving work when she realized she should ask Kamiya if she could skip their 'field trip.' Dang it. She didn't know which part would be worse. Asking the evil secretary for permission to get into Kamiya's office or asking Kamiya himself, if missing the trip to Tokyo would be okay.

Reluctantly, she approached the desk of the witch who was busy pretending to do some filing. So, what could she say without starting a fight? It was obvious: nothing. Rei was pure evil and too much of a slut to listen to anything she had to say, even if she didn't want this to end in violence. Besides, she was going to have to face this woman one day. She was, after all, coming to Tokyo with them to help a person, most likely Sakaki, with paperwork.

"Rei, could you—"

"No, I'm busy," the demon lady said quickly, cutting her off. What a lie.

"_Rei,_" Sakura started, already beginning to feel irritated. "Will you _please_ ask Kamiya-sama's permission for me to go into his office?"

The slut turned to look at the cherry blossom with a glare. "Asking for favours now, are you?"

Oh great, Rei was asking for it. "No, it's called _doing your job._"

"And just look at the great job I'm doing! Unlike you, I work hard," she told Sakura mockingly.

"Where? In bed?" Sakura shot back hastily.

"Ooh! Nice one, Sakura!" shouted Sayuri from the side, just arriving out of the employee work office with Haku and Keiko. Rei, however, did not look too pleased.

"I don't have to work hard in bed. Men work hard to please _me_," Rei hissed angrily.

"Right, because then they can do what they've been waiting to do for the entire night: pull out," the emerald-eyed girl threw right back.

"Buuurn!" Haku yelled as he grinned with delight. Even Keiko was smiling.

Rei seemed to have had it. She was fuming and suddenly leapt over the desk and onto Sakura. The next thing the cherry blossom knew, she was on the floor and Rei slapping her like crazy.

_She's slapping me?_

_She's __**actually**__ slapping me?_

Oh ho ho! She was getting a Sakura ass kicking now!

Her cheeks stung, but Sakura was not letting this go. That slut had officially crossed the line between 'pissed off' and 'you are going to regret what you just did.'

"Nobody insults me like that and gets away with it!" Rei screamed as she rewarded the cherry blossom with another hard slap.

"It's only the truth!" the girl on the floor yelled back as she threw the dark brunette off of her. Sakura couldn't express how glad she was that she was wearing pants today. Her opponent was not, of course because she was such a, well, a female dog.

Once the two had both regained their balance, Sakura tackled Rei right into the secretary's desk. The slutty one grunted loudly as her back hit the table before beginning to pull the opposing girl's hair. Sakura winced and scratched the face of the secretary, then kicked her leg, giving herself a chance to scramble away. Rei screamed in horror and cover up her precious scratched cheek while she ignored the pain on her knee.

"Look at what you did to my face!" she shrieked, terrified at the marks on her face as they began to swell up. "I'm going to rip your pretty little eyes out!"

Rei clearly wasn't a very challenging opponent. "I'd like to see you try!"

"Your complexion looks better this way, Rei," Keiko stated happily, smirking at grey-eyed witch.

Sakura was almost surprised at the ice queen's support, but after all, _everyone_ hated this woman. Well, she wasn't going to waste any time. She owed Rei some good slaps. As her enemy mourned over her wrecked face, Sakura stepped up and channelled all her stress, hatred and frustration into a well-earned slap.

And she… Wait, her foe was gone?

The evil brunette let out a girly war-like cry from behind Sakura. Before the designer could turn around, someone was on her back. The person's arms were tight around the area above her chest.

"Aggh!" Sakura shouted, stumbling due to the added weight. "Get off me, you fat pig!"

"No way! Not after what you did to my beautiful face!" retorted the woman on her back.

"Just so you know, it was never beautiful!" Haku threw in for fun.

Sakura lowered her chin and bit into the arm in front of her and Rei immediately fell off her back. Blood then started to seep out of the newly acquired wound. At this point, the cherry blossom whirled around to her victim and gave her the hardest slap she could. Rei screamed out, falling to the floor on her butt and there was a round of cheers from the side.

"Everyone shut your mouths," a cold voice sounded.

All in that room turned around to see who it was.

"K-Kamiya-sama," Sakura whispered softly as fear suddenly overtook her.

* * *

**Author's Note:** It's not much of a cliffhanger, but can you guess what happens next? Oh fun! Fun! Greattums! Whee! I really enjoyed writing this chapter, and I like it too! Just keep waiting! The next chapter is even BETTER! Good things shall happen! ...Sorta...

Please review! (Let's try for 200!)


	16. Discussions Don't End Well

**Disclaimer:** If this is a fan fiction, I don't own CCS.

**Author's Note:** Greetings my great readers! I love all of you very much! Did you know that originally, this chapter was supposed to have the catfight? I just decided to change it because the old ending of chapter fifteen I didn't like very much. Okay, now that I think about it, I really have no idea when this story ends. Before I was thinking twenty chapters, but now I'm thinking twenty-five. Oh well. Anyway, I want to thank all my readers for being so patient and supportive of my updates. I haven't been threatened with a knife yet!

**To the reviewers:** I think I love you guys. Never in my wildest of dreams did I think that my reviews would get this high? Did I mention that the amount of reviews is making me ecstatic and that I want to throw parties for all my reviewers? Unfortunately, I don't have that much money so all I can give you is some pie! Just close your eyes and imagine a sweet strawberry glazed pie with a side of vanilla ice cream… I'm not drooling right now! I promise! Shut up Hawk! Well, thank you guys for the _most reviews I've ever gotten for a chapter yet!_ I hope you like this one!

* * *

**Chapter 16 – Discussions Don't End Well**

Syaoran glanced at his watch as he continued to hold on the knob on the door. How many hours had it been? Two maybe? However many hours it had been, it really didn't matter. His wrist was getting sore and his arm was getting weak after the knob had been twisted repeatedly with those trapped inside, attempting to get out. Perhaps it would be okay if he let got for just a second. Besides, it probably wouldn't affect anything. The couple had been arguing for at least an hour and a half by now. Screams could be heard from inside and the blabbing was certainly getting tiresome. He didn't even know how he'd done this for so long.

He glanced uneasily down at his guard hand, tightly gripping the door's escape handle. Okay, he _was_ right beside the door, so if anyone tried to make a run for it, he could jump on them. That was an idea, but if it were Tomoyo that happened to come out, he might just squash her and that wouldn't be pretty. Hey! Syaoran wasn't that heavy! Heck, he wasn't even ripped. Maybe he'd gone to the gym a few times a week lately—I mean he had abs but…

"Hi, Syaoran," said a small voice, "what are you doing?"

"Uh…" he responded dumbly as knew who it was. "I'm just… trying to fix something…"

Meilin leaned over to make eye contact with him. This was not good. They hadn't had a casual conversation for a long time. Man, he didn't even know the last time they'd talked!

"If you're trying to fix that doorknob, holding onto it isn't a very good solution," she advised him as she recomposed herself.

Her comment simply reminded him of how foolish he must look right now—not to mention what would happen if Sakaki saw him slacking on the job. Nervously, he let go of the handle and cleared his throat.

"Uh, actually, it really has nothing to do with the door," Syaoran replied airily.

"Then the two noisy people inside?" she asked, pointing at the door.

He nodded. Why was she talking to him? Was Meilin trying to gain his affections again? He wanted nothing to do with her. Fan girls were extremely annoying, and he wasn't even a celebrity! Syaoran really couldn't figure her out. She seemed sincere enough, but he couldn't trust her.

"So, what's up?" he asked Meilin suspiciously.

"I know you must wonder what I'm doing here. I haven't spoken to any of you for over half a year and now I'm coming up to you and talking to you like we're friends," she said quietly as she sighed. "It's taken months for me to summon the courage to speak to you again, let alone say what I need to say."

"And what is it that you need to say?" he insisted with a raised eyebrow.

She was hesitant. "I… I know you've probably heard this a lot already, but I'm sorry. Everything that happened—everything that was ruined—was my fault. I guess I just never grew up and I thought that what happened would never happen, so when it did, I blamed Sakura. It's not like she could control her feelings, but I didn't care. I drove her away and now everyone is suffering because of me."

"You're right. It is your fault, and honestly, I don't know if I can forgive you," Syaoran told her brutally as she looked down in shame, "because it was you who kept me from seeing Sakura before she left for Kawasaki, you who practically banished her to another city, and you who wouldn't forgive her even after she left, _for you._ And now here you are, standing in front of _me_ asking for forgiveness. How long have you realized you were wrong? How long have you sat in silence, refusing to believe that Sakura is a good person? We weren't going steady or deeply involved, so how long did it take you to get into your head that Sakura never stole me from you?"

"I-I d-don't know…"

She couldn't bear to look at him and kept her eyes firmly on the ground, yet she stayed and took that abuse. Anger was apparent in his voice and it would be stupid .

"When I look at you, all I can think about is how Sakura, being the soft-hearted person she is, ran because of you. I shouldn't be me that you're begging forgiveness from, it should be her—and until she accepts your apology, I can't."

Meilin felt a little shocked. She'd never heard him go off like that, but she knew why. When it came to Sakura, he was full of passion.

"I see," she murmured sadly, although she had this coming for her.

"You should go now," Syaoran suggested gruffly. It was actually more of a command.

She knew when she was not wanted, and she was definitely not wanted. She backed off and ran.

-

Sakura was cowering under her boss's eyes. She was completely terrified to be in this room with the four other people Kamiya had caught. She couldn't believe she'd been caught in a fight with Rei. At least she'd come out almost perfectly unscathed, with the exception of a sore face that had been slapped one too many times. The other brunette had obtained a scratch on her face, a bite mark on her lower right arm, a bruise on her knee, and an aching back.

"Well, what happened, Rei?" the boss asked, glaring at all of them. Everyone shrunk down in fear.

"I was busy doing some filing and the Kinomoto girl came out and just randomly started hurling insults at me, so I said something back. She got mad and attacked me!" Rei explained, altering the story way too much to even be considered innocent.

"Hm," he grunted absently. "And your side of the story, Kinomoto?"

Sakura felt a jolt of courage strike her. There was no way she was going to let Kamiya believe Rei's pathetic story.

"I was leaving work when I realized I wanted to ask you something, Kamiya-sama. I requested a meeting with you to that secretary and she pretends that she's busy. So I asked her again and she starts pissing me off. Then we both say some stuff to each other and when I piss her off, she jumps on me and begins slapping me which is when the whole fight started," Sakura reported dutifully as she felt the beat up girl shooting arrows at her with her eyes.

"Good, you are honest, Sakura," he complimented her.

"But she's lying, Kamiya-sama!" Rei protested furiously.

"She is not!" Kamiya yelled at her with an icy look that made the slut practically become a bug. At this outburst, his workers all jumped in alarm. "I know because I witnessed the whole thing,"

Everyone except Keiko looked at him with wide eyes. He was _there?_

"Haku, Sayuri, Keiko, and Sakura, I will let you off with a warning because none of you did anything to stop this battle, which was a complete waste of time and exceptionally immature," the high-powered man informed them sternly. "As for you, Rei, you were the one who initiated the fight and you lied about it as well. In Tokyo, you were to come along and help the other manager, Sakaki, with her paperwork. Your punishment will be to finish all the paperwork for her. It should keep you busy for the whole week."

Sakura wanted to laugh out loud when she saw the look on the secretary's face and how her jaw fell open he had said 'the whole week.'

"Kamiya-sama," Sayuri began, "if you were there the whole time, why didn't you stop it?"

"I'm your boss, not a baby-sitter," he clarified smoothly, "and Sakura's fighting skills were most impressive. Did you learn off of Sakaki?"

She shook her head and blushed in embarrassment.

"Right. Now Sakura, you wanted to ask me something?" Kamiya questioned her.

-

He opened the door slowly. "Are you guys done?" Syaoran asked, peeking into the room.

"Yeah," Eriol answered quietly. "We've worked things out."

"You sure?" he questioned the two, unable to believe that they were good with each other now.

"Yes," Tomoyo replied firmly. She smiled softly at him and sighed in a way that seemed cheerful.

"Alright then," he said. Something wasn't quite right though…

"We're just going to be friends," his best friend informed him, grinning like an idiot. He glanced at Tomoyo and they smiled at each other like there was no tomorrow. They smiled like their solution was so perfect and that being friends would fix all their problems.

Syaoran was going to explode. "_What?_" Was this some kind of joke? If it was, he was going to kill the person who was trying to be funny. "Like… friends with _benefits?_"

"No, just friends," the female notified him gracefully.

He was now twitching violently. Friends with benefits, he might have accepted for an answer, but how stupid could they _be_? Could they not see that being friends would just blow up in their faces? Syaoran could see it now. The awkwardness between them would make you want to kill yourself. In fact, if he looked at them now, he could see that they were _smiling_ at each other like they were a couple when, apparently, they were not.

"I can't believe I'm saying this," he told them quietly, "but YOU GUYS ARE IDIOTS!"

-

"Um… Could I stay here instead of going on the trip to Tokyo?" Sakura asked nervously.

"Absolutely out of the question," Kamiya replied rather quickly. "There is no good reason for you to stay here and it will be a good experience."

She looked down when his voice contained a harsh tone.

"So, Kamiya-sama, where are we staying?" Haku asked, another one of his infamous questions.

He paled, if that was even possible. "I… have not made arrangements for you five."

Sakura, however, brightened. "You guys could stay at my house!"

"_Really?_" Sayuri questioned with wide eyes. "You have a house in Tokyo?"

"Sort of. My dad owns half of it until I can buy it off of him, but he only uses it when friends need a place to stay. It shouldn't be a problem," she told them as she nodded her head.

"Fascinating, so can we go now?" Keiko asked icily.

Kamiya shot her a glare, but nodded. They all stood up and left his office, Rei looking very bitter on the way.

"Sakura, do you not realize what you've done?" the blue-eyed female asked in a low voice.

"Huh?"

"Kamiya said, 'I have not made arrangements for you _five,_'" she explained, giving a look to all her other friends as well.

And then suddenly it hit Sakura. You _five._ She'd not only invited her friends to stay at her house, but the evil witch enemy _Rei._

-

Meilin walked slowly down a busy street in the city of Tokyo before taking a seat on an empty bench. It was lonely, she admitted, because there was no one with her, anywhere. Nobody would want to talk to the girl who had torn everybody's life apart. Who would befriend the girl who only cared about herself?

She was trying her best to fix it, the thing she'd broken, but all solutions seemed to lie in the piece she'd thrown away—Sakura. Even though it took all her courage, Meilin had still tried to apologize to him, but he wouldn't forgive her unless Sakura did. Not that it took her by surprise. She had been stubborn and exceptionally selfish because she hadn't followed the saying, 'You can't force somebody to love you' and it was true. In the process of trying to get her love interest to love her back, she'd shut out everyone else's feelings and simply ended up hurting herself and everyone around her.

A tear slid down her cheek. Meilin was lonely, guilty, and completely miserable. Why was she crying? She didn't have a right to it. Lives were ruined because of her. It was she who caused all those tears of the people around her. She didn't deserve to cry.

But still, she was lonely.

"Hey, are you okay?" a man asked her kindly. He was young and attractive. She probably didn't deserve him either.

"I-I'm f-fine," she answered softly, turning away from him as she wiped up her tears.

"You don't look that way," he stated, concerned about her. "Come on, I'll buy you some coffee. It'll make you feel relaxed."

"Thank you, but—"

"No buts, you are coming with me…uh… what's your name?" he asked as he pulled her up off of the bench.

"Meilin," the Chinese girl told him and gave the man a weak smile.

"Nice to meet you! I'm Lei," he informed her as he led the way to a coffee shop.

She felt warm inside. He made her feel… not lonely. Lei, huh. He seemed like a nice guy.

* * *

**Author's Note:** Okay, so maybe not my best chapter, but I did my best. Meilin drama much? The question is, did _you_ like it or not? Tell me. Don't worry; the next couple of chapters ahead I feel are the best ones yet. Right now, I have about five hundred more words to write for chapter eighteen. Those ones are blasting with drama…I think. Alrighty! See you guys in three weeks (It's normally supposed to be two weeks, but I'm going on vacation soon and I won't be back to update, sorry!)! Thanks for reading!

Please review! (We're slowly gaining on that big 200!)


	17. People Who Are Stupid

**Disclaimer:** People own things, but CCS doesn't belong to me…sadly.

**Author's Note:** Oh, FINALLY this chapter is up! I apologize profusely for taking this long. My computer was fixed on Tuesday, but I wasn't allowed to go on the internet until today. This, however, gave me enough time to do more writing, so I've got two chapters waiting to be updated already. Thanks for being so patient.

**To the reviewers:** Thanks for the reviews! And I mean the ones for chapter 16. I know it wasn't all that great, but you guys reviewed anyway! Yes! I have kept all my chapter reviews around ten reviews each! Yay! I have a questions for everyone too. Who is your favourite OC (Original Character if you don't know)? I want to know! Tell in your reviews! (Teehee, mine is Sakaki because she puts those dirty pervs in place!)

**Here is the long awaited chapter! **

* * *

** Chapter 17 – People Who Are Stupid**

"Hey!" Eriol protested half-heartedly. "We're not idiots!"

"Do you _really_ think that?" asked the amber-eyed man in disbelief. He smashed his face into his hands and groaned loudly.

"You're not dying, are you?" Tomoyo joked innocently. She giggled happily and seemed ecstatic that everything was 'back to normal.'

There seriously had to be something wrong with these two. They didn't look like they had brain damage or anything because these adults were perfectly healthy. This situation was literally killing him inside. Syaoran could not process the fact that his plan hadn't gotten them back together.

"Yeah, I'm dying inside a little bit," he replied, practically leaking fake tears of frustration.

"Why can't you just be happy with us? We're satisfied with our conclusion," the man with glasses said.

That's it. They were officially screwed up.

Syaoran shook his head in incredulity. "Do you guys not see the awkwardness that will come between you?"

"What awkwardness? Can't you see how great it is that we're just friends?" his best friend asked with a smile so big that Syaoran couldn't believe his face was still intact.

"Fine! Fine! It's all good that we're all _just friends_," he replied, exasperated that these fools were so blind. Man, he really hated that phrase, 'just friends.' "So what do you guys want to do after work?"

An uncomfortable silence ensued, as foreseen by the brown-haired guy who was completely obsessed with a cherry blossom.

"Maybe nothing today," Tomoyo answered, looking a bit nervous of the idea.

Her ex-boyfriend nodded in agreement, showing an expression similar to hers. They had, after all, gone steady for a really long time and probably made-out in almost every place in Tokyo. There were too many memories everywhere.

Syaoran smirked and crossed his arms. For everything he hated, there was also something he loved, and he loved it when he was right.

-

"No way!" Sakura groaned out loudly. She used to know she was smart, and now, she just wasn't. She was the biggest moron in her own 'People Who Are Stupid' book. How did she get herself into these types of situations?

The single male in their group let out an eerie laugh. "Kamiya didn't say that you had to feed her… right?"

"Very funny," Keiko commented sarcastically as Sayuri burst into giggles.

The cherry blossom released a dry sob of agony. "_Haku!_ Don't make bad jokes about something that's not funny! I even screwed you guys over!"

"Rei can always sleep on the shoe mat!" he suggested humorously, only causing Sakura to become more frustrated then before.

"UGH!" she screamed in utter irritation. "Why did this stupid Tokyo trip have to happen even? This is so not fair!"

"Why are you making such a big deal out of this?" Sayuri asked as her eyes hovered over Sakura in curiosity.

"Why can't I?" she shot back, unable to answer that question at the time.

"Sakura should know that running from issues makes things wo-rse!" the pig-tailed girl informed her with a singsong voice. She danced around strangely for a bit before hurling herself onto Haku's back.

Yet another groan escaped from her mouth. Sakura hated the inevitable. She knew exactly what would happen on this trip: intense tension all over the place. The worst part was, she knew there was nothing to do but face it.

**-**

**Three Days Later**

**-**

It wasn't any better then before. Syaoran was almost disgusted with himself. He was so sure that his plan would work, but the few brief moments after Eriol and Tomoyo had made up were at least slightly pleasant. It was all smiles and grins before the fated uncomfortable silence. The two could stand to be in the same room with each other now, but no matter what, when all three of them were together, eyes turned to the ground without a word.

_They're fooling themselves. _

_It's killing me to be right in the middle of the whole thing. _

The brunette sighed and as usual, slammed his head on the table in front of him. At this rate, his number of brain cells would probably be dropping like perverted men in a room with Sakaki. He was still pretty young and yet he had more things to think about than any man should.

Three quarters of his thoughts were stuck on Sakura—anything about her. Her eyes, her hair, her smile, her voice, and every memory he had of her. Good or bad. Syaoran knew he was addicted to her. At first, he just thought it was his hormones. Sakura was good-looking. Okay, she was _hot._ Then he thought about it again. Tomoyo was hot too, and so was Meilin. Hot chicks surrounded him and none that were here made his hormones go nuts. Sakura somehow amused him, kept him thinking about her all the time. Most of it was because he knew he really liked her, but if she was away for this long, he should have been over her by now. Maybe it was because she'd left him with questions buzzing everywhere. Syaoran tried to ignore the wonders poking at him but the difficulty of doing that was overwhelming.

To top off the problems, visitors were coming to the office today and it was more then likely that Sakaki would send them to him. He'd have no chance at refusing because that lady was the scariest thing ever. No nightmare could surpass her threats or fists of steel. Of course, the only reason she'd throw them at him was that his boss had a ton of paperwork to catch up on. The stressed man had seen her workplace a couple of days ago and it was decorated with white and black ink; even the filing cabinets were jammed so badly that labels were useless.

Those dang designers… Syaoran had no idea how to entertain them. He really wanted to be alone.

-

"HOLY SMOKES!" Sayuri squealed enthusiastically. "LOOK AT THE AIR CONDITIONING THINGS!"

Sakura heard the ice queen sigh as they got into the sleek, black limo. The seats were soft and leathery with a switch above each one to change the air con. There were three spaces for passengers at the back that faced the front and another that faced the back seats. Kamiya entered his own private part of the large car looking satisfied with his decision. It seemed like everywhere they went they were stuck with Rei.

"I wish she would shut up for once," Keiko muttered as she buckled herself into the left window seat at the back with Sakura on her right.

"Well, that's just what Sayuri does," Haku told her as he grinned at the excited girl bouncing around in her seat beside him. They had sat on the opposite side of the other two women.

"I wanna buy one of these for myself!" she squealed with a dreamy look in her eyes, slowly examining the material of the seats.

"Yeah, she can _really_ afford one," blue-haired one breathed out in annoyance.

"Why can't you all just shut up?" a new voice asked, breaking into their conversation.

Everyone turned their heads and saw the person they welcomed the least in all their lives. Rei sat bitterly next to Haku, wanting to stay as far away as she could from the person who'd beaten her up. The emerald-eyed female glanced at the bandage on the arm of her enemy and remembered that she practically showed mercy. She definitely could've bitten harder, but she wasn't one who liked to taste flesh.

"Why?" asked Sakura menacingly, daring that slut to challenge her. "Do you have a problem with people using their vocal chords?"

The mean brunette only snorted and turned away, perhaps afraid of her foe. It seemed the woman was wearing a bra today—a rare occasion. Still, though, the bra was quite thin and see-through.

"So… What's Tokyo like, Sakura?" inquired the only man among them.

"Can't you ask someone else?" she moaned in exasperation.

"…You lived in Tokyo…"

"Well, if Saku doesn't want to tell us, we can ask Keikii! She's been to the big city!" Sayuri shouted, rubbing the seats of the limo as if it were her lover and gazing at it the same way.

"Haven't we been over this?" Keiko asked tiredly, leaning back in her seat. Sakura had no idea how many times they were going to argue about this.

"What? You mean talking about you trips to Tokyo?"

"No, the stupid nickname."

"Oh, I get it, Keikii!"

"Stop it, you little prick!"

"Excuse me?"

"Good, now shut your mouth."

"That's mean, Keikii!"

"Holy _crap,_ stop with the pointless nicknames already!"

"Keikii is the coolest name ever!"

Sakura pushed the rest of the argument out of her head, knowing where it was going was endless. She thought about their destination as she felt the wheels under her go into motion. How could this have happened? She may have not planned it super carefully, but this scheme could not fail… When was the last time she counted all her failed plans?

It might be good to see Tomoyo again although they'd slowly lost contact over the last five months. She caused that too. The cherry blossom didn't want to hear about the problems of her former agency because _those_ were her fault too. She knew that Tomoyo was having problems with Eriol, but it hurt too much to listen and for that she felt horrible. Sakura knew too much guilt right now. Everything had a 'too' in it.

The woman especially didn't want to see Syaoran. It was even painful to think about him. He'd probably laugh at her when he saw what a wreck she was. Sakura remembered his last message. The guy didn't want to waste even a couple of minutes on her anymore. She knew she'd developed feelings for him and she hated admitting it, but it was more then likely he'd moved on without her. He had girls chasing after him wherever he went.

She wanted to scream on top of the tallest building in Tokyo, or at least some kind of roof. She wanted somewhere in a place that all worries were diminished and she could feel the relaxing whispers of the wind. It would be a place of peace, where no one needed to shed a tear or scream out because of their stress.

No such place existed. Each human had something of a guilt box, and hers was full. Everyone was just better off without her. She was so worn out from all this thinking. Her thoughts wouldn't leave her alone. They were twisted and unfriendly and yet she had to deal with them.

Sakura's nose began to run and she sniffled quietly. Unconsciously, she let a tear slide down her cheek.

"Sakura, you okay?" Haku asked with pure concern. That was Haku, always worrying about her. He cared a lot and that might hurt too because she knew she didn't deserve it.

She didn't answer his question and merely leaned her head against the window on her right. It wasn't long before more hot, fat, liquid began to stream down her face. Sakura felt pathetic and weak. She didn't usually feel like she was hopeless at life and fought the obstacles head on.

Today, she felt like it was time to give up.

-

The amber-eyed man sat in the staff lunchroom ready to start pulling out his hair. He was going to lose it soon. The table he sat at was silent, considering the fact he was sitting between Tomoyo and Eriol. Maybe he should start a conversation…

"Uh… Nice weather we're having, huh?" he began nervously. Nice weather? What the hell was he thinking?

"Yup," replied Eriol, munching on a bit of his sandwich and focusing on his upside-down newspaper.

"…It's showering outside," the grey-eyed female pointed out without looking up from her very occupying instant ramen.

Syaoran wracked his brain trying to search for something to cover up his mistake. "I-I meant…uh… the inside weather! Ahe, he, he…"

"Yup," his best friend coughed up robotically.

"Inside? Well, it's definitely not in overcast inside this building…" Tomoyo stated within the awkwardness.

Honestly, what happened to quick thinking Syaoran who could shoot back a retort in the blink of an eye?

_Inside weather? _

_Man, I'm seriously messed up. _

Suddenly Mizuki burst into the room and broke the tension. He couldn't be more relieved that she'd come in at this moment and that was scary. After all, this was Mizuki.

"Guys! Hurry up and get back to your offices! Those designers who're supposed to come are here!" she shouted hastily before running back out the door as quickly as she'd come.

Syaoran tripped over his feet trying to get away, partly because he couldn't wait to rid himself of the awkwardness and partly because he knew Sakaki was depending on him and a few others to make the visitors feel as comfortable as possible. He job—no, his _life_ was riding on this.

-

"Kamiya," Sakaki greeted her male equal politely as she shook his hand. She walked back around her desk to sit in her chair. "Oh, and hello all worthless, lowly designers, secretary, and Sakura."

Sayuri almost began to shout out about how that was just plain mean, but Haku managed to thrust his hand over her mouth in time to cut her off.

"It's nice… to see you again, Sakaki-sama," Sakura said shakily. She wanted to smile at her old boss, but she was feeling so terrible that even if she forced herself she wouldn't be able to.

"Yes, and you as well, Sakura," the ravine-haired boss replied kindly. Now that she and Kamiya were standing, or rather sitting, in the same room, Sakura could see how alike they looked. It was a bit intimidating. "Kamiya, I understand you have someone to finish all my paperwork for me?"

He nodded and gestured towards Rei.

"Alright," she started with a grin, obviously excited another person would have to suffer through this that wasn't her. She pulled open three large drawers in a filing cabinet, all crammed with stray papers. "You get to work."

The look on Rei's face was priceless. The slut's jaw literally hit the ground.

"Sakura, will you lead the rest of your friends to office number eight, please?" the freakishly strong woman asked.

Eight? That number sounded awfully familiar…

She nodded, bowed and exited the boss's office, her coworkers following behind her.

-

Syaoran sighed when her heard a knock on his door. This was incredibly creepy, no doubt about it. These people could walk in here and render him jobless in five seconds. This wasn't going to be fun.

"Come in," he told the visitors uneasily.

The door opened with a click as he turned to see who was coming through.

"—Sakura!" he shouted, so alarmed that he fell off his chair.

* * *

**Author's Note:** Now, how much did you love that? I certainly loved it. Review and tell me if you loved it… or hated it. No matter! Hey! That doesn't mean you can flame! Constructive criticism is always appreciated though. This wasn't the most productive chapter, but the this is just where it begins. Chapter 18 will seriously blow your mind. It even blew MY mind when I was writing it. That one took hours because I kept on reading over the good parts. It was a very, very bad distraction, but enjoyable nevertheless.

Come on and review! I PROMISE the next chapter will be up in two weeks, especially since I'm finished chapter 19 as well.

Please review and tell me who your favourite OC is!


	18. Intensity

**Disclaimer: **I may own rights to Sakaki, Kamiya, Haku, Sayuri, Keiko, Mizuki, Rei and the pitiful Lei, but none of the stuff from CCS belongs to me… unfortunately.

**Author's Note:** As promised, here's chapter eighteen! Man, I can hardly believe that this story's been up for almost a year now. Have I seriously been writing that long? Whoa… Eh, well the start of this chapter is a bit weird, I think. It's not all that good, but after it, the next two scenes are awesome! (Sakaki and Kamiya part was the part I kept reading.) Don't skip words!

**To the reviewers:** Aww, only eight for me this time. –Pouts- But that's okay, because I love all my reviewers SO DANG MUCH! I want to make this story a ten reviews per chapter story, so I really, really thank all of you for helping me with this. Reviews equal inspiration. It's you guys who keep me writing. I shall delay you no longer! READ NOW! (And please review at the end!)

* * *

**Chapter 18 – Intensity**

"That was an unexpected reaction," Keiko stated, smirking at the startled man on the floor.

"I take it you know Sakura then," the dirty blond added rather grumpily. His response was normal. It could make any guy jealous to be in the same area as someone as gorgeous as Syaoran.

"Oowee!" Sayuri squealed in excitement. "He's hot!"

Neither of the remaining two spoke. They just stared at each other in silence. Sakura was really freaked out, but her emotions were pushed aside as she felt herself drifting through his eyes. Here she was, standing in the same room as the person she wanted to see the least right now and the person who she'd been yearning to see for months now. They were the same person. The problem was, she didn't know which of these to take action from. There was absolutely no way she could choose between being scared of confronting Syaoran or tackling him into a hug.

How much had she missed him?

For Syaoran, he was so stunned by this that he might as well have been paralysed. _These_ were the visitors? They were from Kawasaki Design Agency? It was no wonder Sakaki hadn't gone into specifics. She didn't want him to know Sakura was coming and scare him off. He was trying to read her emotions, but her eyes showed nothing. When he gazed into her emerald orbs, a funny feeling came up in his stomach. Even he had no idea what to do. He may have been thinking about her for the last billion hours, but the cherry blossom had stumbled into his office so suddenly that his astonishment wouldn't wear off. There was no way this could be real. It had to be a dream. Well, this dream was damn good if he were allowed to keep staring at her like this forever.

Finally, he blinked and yet the scene presented to him was still there. He shook his head, snapping out of his trance while Sakura did the same. That was a hard thing to do. Breaking eye contact with her was another thing he hated. Crap. This was no illusion.

"Sorry… I just zoned out for a bit…" Syaoran explained as he gave the rest of the bunch an apologetic look, a faint blush lingering on his cheeks. He stood up and dusted himself off, realizing how stupid he must have looked, not that it really mattered anymore. He had a knack for being caught in embarrassing moments. Who fell off their chairs anymore anyway?

"A bit? You guys were staring at each other for five minutes!" Haku exploded angrily while the hyper Sayuri frowned at this. He was usually calm and collected. Why would he be affected by this?

"Chill man, you have PMS or something?" Syaoran retorted before he could even stop himself. He hoped to god that this didn't get out or Sakaki would have his head. At least his quick thinking had returned.

The comment seemed to piss the blue-eyed man off even further and tried to throw a punch at the other male, but Sayuri held his arm back and Keiko grabbed his collar, dragging him in reverse. Haku only struggled to get away from the women, but they had a firm hold on him.

"Haku," Sakura began reluctantly, "please calm down."

She really wasn't in the mood for this. The brunette was currently very emotional and felt like she would cry any second. Being here, in the same place where she destroyed the happiness of many people, made all the guilt rush back. While she had looked into Syaoran's eyes, she had remained neutral and kept herself in control, but now she was shooting herself inside.

"Well, if your friend is done with his _very_ good attempt to decapitate me, shall we go?" he asked with a bit of sarcasm in his voice which almost made Haku try and throw his fist at the guy a second time, only refraining for Sakura's sake.

"I suppose," sighed Keiko, tugging roughly on her male friend's collar.

Just before he left the room, he decided to add in an introduction. "By the way, I'm Syaoran, so if you need anything just ask."

The ice queen managed to shut Haku up before he said something stupid.

-

Sakaki watched eagerly as Kamiya's secretary rapidly worked on the paperwork she was supposed to be doing. It was beautiful!

"I'm finished with the first cabinet, Sakaki-sama," Rei informed her, apparently exhausted.

Sakaki examined the drawer and saw it neatly stacked and organized. "Good, now start on the second one. There are still several more mounds of papers!"

"I-I thought there were only three drawers full!"

"Oh, sorry! Did I mislead you? I meant for you to start _off_ with those three. I had to clean this room for when you and your fellow employees came so I stashed the rest in the closet." Sakaki walked over to a supply closet on the right side of her desk and opened the door, letting hundreds, or possibly thousands, of papers tumble out.

Rei gaped, going mentally insane.

"Better get to work if you're going to finish all these! You _do_ only have a week, after all," the freaky woman suggested as Kamiya smirked at her cruelness. "As for me and Kamiya, we're going to be in one of the conference rooms." She grabbed the black-haired man's hand and dragged him into the room across the hall where they took seats next to each other.

"Couldn't wait to have some privacy with me, eh, Sakaki?" he asked in his deathly calm voice.

"Shut your mouth! Do you think our plan is working?" she shot back in irritation, smoothing out her ponytail.

"Of course. It is, after all, a work of mine," the red-eyed male replied cockily.

"I hate your ego!" she declared, glaring at him and crossing her arms.

"What can I say? My mind is brilliant,"

"Quiet already!"

"Fine, but do you presume this Syaoran will actually win the girl's heart?"

"That's not poetic if you meant it to sound that way, and yes. He already has," she said confidently. There was no chance those two lovers were separating without making out. This week would do it, and she'd get her beloved best designer back! Sakaki hated to admit it, but part of the reason she helped plan this was to get Sakura back in her office.

"And what about you?" Kamiya asked suddenly.

"W-what?" she sputtered out in surprise. Was he asking about her love life or just trying to scare her, because he was sure doing a good job of it. A crimson blush stained her face and it wouldn't go away.

"Do you have your eye on someone?" he questioned her softly, leaning in closer to her, his eyes gazing into hers.

"I-no…" she stuttered out, intoxicated with his seductive voice and drowning in his eyes.

"That's too bad," he whispered, his face only inches from hers now, "because I do."

He ran his hand down her cheek gently and brought his lips to hers, kissing her slowly. Sakaki froze, but eventually responded, bringing her arms up around his neck to pull his body closer to hers, deepening the kiss. It was sweet and soft, a long kiss they were both enjoying thoroughly.

After a few minutes, they broke apart, gasping for air. She was blushing deeply while he gave her a rare grin. It was uncommon for Kamiya to show emotion openly.

"I knew you wanted me," he stated arrogantly.

Sakaki punched him.

-

Syaoran knocked on an office door, the Kawasaki department following close behind. The door opened and a full head of blue hair poked out.

"Hey, Tomoyo, come see who's here," he told her, gesturing to the group behind him.

She gasped and hurled her arms around her best friend. "Sakura!"

"Hi…" the cherry blossom greeted her, returning the embrace. She couldn't believe her friend was there, right now. "Tomoyo, I'm sorry I didn't return your messages, but I really missed you."

"Don't worry about it! I'm sure you had your reasons," she replied with understanding. Tears of happiness were rolling down both their cheeks.

"Ooh! Introduce us!"

Keiko pulled on one of Sayuri's pigtails with the hand that wasn't gripping Haku's shirt. "Idiot, you ruined their moment,"

"No, no! It's fine," Sakura said as she and Tomoyo pulled apart. She wiped her eyes up a little before giving everyone a weak smile. "Tomoyo, this is Haku, Sayuri, and Keiko."

"Nice to meet you all,"

"You too,"

"HI TOMOYO!"

"Right,"

"Now, wasn't that jolly," Syaoran added quietly, deciding to put in his two cents which he received glares for. "Where's your 'just friend' Eriol, Tomoyo?"

Sakura looked bewildered, but her best friend only sent him another dirty look.

"He's really busy so I doubt you'll see him today," she answered, handing a look to Sakura that said 'I'll tell you later.'

He nodded looking as if he wanted to say something. "Uh… Do me a favour and show the others around please? I want to talk to Sakura alone."

Tentatively, Tomoyo nodded after staring at him in suspicion for a while. The Kinomoto, however, didn't agree as quickly. With no one else around, she might start yelling at the guy for leaving her with so many questions.

"Come on, _please_?" he begged cutely, his expression turning so adorable no girl or even _man_ could resist.

Sakura shuddered at the thought, but nodded slowly. She was going to die, she was going to die, she was going to die… Holy crap was she going to _die._ She was going to face her fears right now and she was definitely not ready. This would not have happened if that idiot weren't so…so…persuasive!

She hoped this would be short, really short. She couldn't handle much in her present state of mind.

-

Keiko was downright pissed off at her two companions. She always had to watch out for them and make sure they didn't do something idiotic. Today was just another day like that, but it was a lot more hectic. Haku was acting like a jerk and Sayuri was bouncing around everywhere. There was nothing special about this place and yet they were acting like it was. The whole thing was so damn tiresome.

After asking Tomoyo to lead them to a place they could sit down and rest, she brought them to the lunchroom. Keiko needed to jam some sense into their hollow heads.

When everyone else was seated, she began her interrogation.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" she growled at the male angrily. She didn't like to raise her voice, but she was definitely furious and that she could afford to show. She _did_ have a reputation after all.

Haku looked confused. "Huh?"

"Why are you being such an asshole?" the blue-haired female demanded as she glared at him, trying to scare him.

"It's true! You're being quite the meanie-head today!" Sayuri said, supporting her friend's question.

"I don't know what you guys are talking about," he retorted grumpily.

"You have some issues and you know it. Now quite being such a dick and behave your stupid self," Keiko berated him as she slapped the back of his head.

"Ow," he moaned, flinching at her hard strike.

"I sense that there's a problem at hand," Tomoyo stated as she settled into her seat, resting her chin in the palm of her hand and her elbow on the table. Were these honestly the people Sakura had been hanging out with for the past few months? Keiko seemed a bit cold and Sayuri, she hated to be mean about it, but that woman was like a child! She had yet to see the true colours of Haku, however, because the guy was apparently acting in an eerie way lately. "What's going on?"

"Absolutely nothing," hissed the seemingly ticked off man.

"Sayuri doesn't _think so!_" the pig-tailed girl sang, referring to herself in third person as she often did.

"Don't lie to us," the lecturer scolded him forcibly. Keiko didn't even sound like her usual neutral self. She was furious at the way this jerk had acted all day. The urge to destroy his man jewels then and there had never been so intense as it was today. "I know why you're behaving like this, but they don't!" The ice-queen pointed at the two other women. "You should tell them your pathetic excuse,"

"Say _what?_" Haku screamed in disbelief. This could _not_ be happening. "You knew all along? For _how_ long?"

The blue-haired maiden snorted in a very un-ladylike way. "Like it was hard to tell? Haku, you're terrible at concealing secrets."

Eriol's 'friend' was intrigued. This was one good story! She couldn't take her eyes off the guy whose eyes had widened and were now looking anywhere that there were shoes.

For once in long time, the female who contained limitless energy took on a concerned tone. "Haku, you know that you can tell us anything. We're your friends, after all."

"It's… I—y'know, this really has nothing to do with you guys!" he snarled harshly at his worried companion. Frankly, he was furious that they were even trying to bug him about this matter. "You're just being annoying, you childish little girl!"

"I-I'm…sorry… I shouldn't have said anything…" Sayuri apologized softly; tears were now becoming evident in her eyes. She wasn't used to this person—this strange man who yelled at her. What he had said last had really stung.

Tomoyo glared at the man. Whatever he was going through did not give him an excuse to hurt the people around him. She shuffled her chair over to where the nearly crying girl was sitting and made an attempt to comfort her.

"Damn it, Haku!" shouted Keiko uncharacteristically, slapping him roughly on the face as she shot him a piercing glare. "Just because you're in a bad mood doesn't mean you can say things like that to Sayuri!"

"It's your fault! You keep trying to press my buttons!"

"_YOU__BROUGHT ALL OF THIS UPON YOURSELF!_"

Sakura's best friend handed a cup of water to Sayuri as she examined the ferocity in Keiko's eyes. Tears fell down Sayuri's cheeks and she clutched the glass in her hand harder. She hated that her friends were fighting, and when Keiko lost her temper, it was not a good sign.

"When? When did I bring your fury upon myself?"

"The moment you decided to act like a jealous pig."

This answer was followed by a long silence, filled with angry stares.

The ice-eyed woman was the first to speak. "I know you won't deny it if I spoke the truth,"

Surprisingly, Haku didn't reply back.

"Because the truth is, you're in love with Kinomoto Sakura."

Not even breathing was heard until the sound of glass shattering on the ground interrupted the quiet.

* * *

**Author's Note:** Did that explode your mind, or what? If it didn't, I apologize to you for getting you so excited. It's just that I loved this chapter so much! You know, I also kinda wonder if any guys read CCS stories… 

Wanna make a girl happy? It's easy! Just press the little button on the bottom left corner and review and you'll certainly make Hawk a jolly girl!

Please review, cuz I am not giving up on the number of 200!


	19. Wanting More

**Disclaimer:** I think you get the point already.

**Author's Note:** I believe it's been two weeks since I updated, neh? So here's the next chapter! ...Not really much I have to say today...

**To the reviewers: **WAHAHAHAHA! REVIEWS ARE LOVE! And I got lots of it! Yay! Thanks so much guys. Seriously. I sorta got writers block on chapter 21, since I DO have plans for the future, but I have to figure out some way to get to those parts, and when I saw the reviews, I KNEW I had to produce something great. So here's a good chapter! It contains a very, very, _nice_ scene! ;D I'm going to start on chapter 22 tomorrow, so until next time, enjoy!

* * *

**Chapter 19 – Wanting More**

"Why didn't you message me back?" he inquired rather quietly. His face was tired and anxious, like the answer had been plaguing him for the longest time.

It didn't come as strange when Sakura felt a powerful urge to start screaming at him. She wanted to scream _everything_ at him: questions, insults, and her own messed up emotions. But she kept her mouth shut because she didn't want to make this situation any worse than it already was. The brunette even wondered why the heck he was asking her this. _He_ was the idiot who wrote one line to her, like she was the last thing on his mind. What was she supposed to think? That he cared? Since writing a message to someone that consisted of six words would _definitely _prove that you cared about them. What right did he have to question her?

"I should be asking you the same thing!" she snapped back. She wasn't just saying that because of what he had written. Somehow, arguments with Syaoran were more comfortable than an intense shout-off.

"Excuse me? _I_ sent _you_ the last email," Syaoran retorted with a matter-of-factly tone of voice.

She idly wondered whether he was just trying to make up some stupid excuse or he was actually this dense.

"Well, it wasn't a very good email. Who writes a message with six words?"

Silence…

"You're right," he admitted hesitantly, yet there was bitterness in his voice, "it was a stupid message."

Sakura almost couldn't believe her ears. Did he… did he just confess to being _wrong?_ She would've burst into laughter if she hadn't detected the sourness that had been in his voice. Nothing really made sense to her right now. Nobody even seemed to blame her for the unfortunate events that happened here a few months back. It was a bit strange to her.

"You know what? Never mind, this was a dumb idea in the first place," Syaoran said as he started to turn around and head back to the group.

"Wait! What do you mean?" she asked quickly, stopping him in his tracks.

"_Never mind,_" the amber-eyed man repeated, continuing to walk.

She should've been glad that he was stopping this conversation, because a short unwanted discussion was what she wanted. Sakura couldn't stop herself digging in deeper. She didn't want Syaoran to be angry with her, but why was _he_ mad? "Just—Syaoran, will you please stop!"

His footsteps came to a halt and looked at her with a heated stare, causing her to flinch. The reason he was angry with her was unclear. It didn't make any sense at all. She hadn't done _anything._

_There must be a reason he's like this._

_I just don't get it._

_Did I say something wrong?_

-

Syaoran was so pissed off. How could _Sakura_ be mad at _him_ for sending her a message? Didn't she want it? Okay, so it was only six words, but that point was already taken and that still didn't cool him off. He'd sat in front of the computer for _ages_ trying to figure out what to write, but nothing came to him because the thoughts of the 'Haku' guy had been distracting him. The emerald-eyed woman had written that he was so great and all that crap that he still didn't want to think about. Girls were not dense about relationships, and Sakura had known that he…liked her and still sent the email. _What was he supposed to think?_

If he could be totally honest and rewrite that six-word message, he would've written this:

Hey Sakura! It's good that you're having fun, but that whole thing that you just wrote to me was very suicide inducing since I'm completely infatuated with you. Oh well! It's not like you care about me, so why don't you just go out with Haku and have lots of tongue wrestling and sex! Don't worry! I'll give you some condoms as a wedding gift! Me? I'll be _just fine!_ I'll be jumping off a cliff tonight! Mmkay? Bye bye!

Well, it wouldn't really be written like that, but that was how it felt. Besides, that message Syaoran typed was only to make her happy and it really didn't succeed. Man, girls could never be satisfied. It's not like she _told_ him to write something longer! It really all was irrelevant though. For all he knew, Sakura could already be going out with that dang lucky dirty blond.

He'd confronted her—well, confronted her as loudly as he could at the moment—and the cherry blossom had replied, making him angry about her response. The whole incident was utterly foolish of him and when this revelation came upon him, he'd stopped it. All this conversation had done was earn more hurt feelings for the Tokyo employee, therefore ruining the relationship with his love interest even more.

But then she had told him to stop and not walk away from her. It almost had sounded like a plea with the desperate tone in her voice. Why did she want them to continue their meaningless confrontation? Better yet, why did Syaoran relent when she asked him to?

"What?" he asked her, the chill in his voice so very obvious as he turned his head slightly so that he could see her out of the corner of his eye. He was great at acting. Sakura would never see the effort it was taking him to stay so heartless toward her.

"Tell me," Sakura ordered shakily, "what I've done wrong."

He was stunned, to say the least. She actually wanted to make amends for whatever she'd done wrong. The female designer was genuinely confused, and she didn't want him to remain hostile toward her.

_Maybe I was wrong. _

_Perhaps some girls __**are**__ dense. _

…_Or maybe __**I'm**__ just thinking like a girl._

_Crap, am I losing my masculinity?_

"Don't worry about it," he said, smiling at her, a real smile. "It doesn't matter. I was being stupid."

Sakura nodded, slowly and uncertainly as she followed him out of the area.

-

She was already crying, so nobody would notice if she cried more. The newly acquired information was too much to handle. Sayuri's brain was processing the words gradually, but the parts she could automatically comprehend had already sunk in and she knew what it meant. Her insides were churning, her stomach full of pain.

The cup that held water Tomoyo had gotten her slipped out of her hand and fell to the ground with a _clang!_ She could feel eyes on her as she looked down, waterfalls pouring out of her own. There was so much hurt within her right now. It was too complicated for her to stay here at the moment. Seeing Haku and knowing the woman he loved was torture.

_I… I have to go!_

She promptly stood up and fled from the room, only leaving a trail of tears and broken glass.

-

Sakura and Syaoran had no words going between them. The silence that was there was almost… comfortable, and so they had a leisurely stroll through the office corridors.

There was one unspecific subject that kept on bugging her. It was chronically poking at her like a child poked sweet and jiggly jell-o. It was just…she was much too frightened to question him about it. It was most likely a touchy and sensitive subject for the both of them. She hadn't, however, been to this place for over half a year and she wanted to know what was going on. Still…she didn't want to destroy the peace they were currently settling in. Also, it would technically be rude of her to inquire such things if she didn't work her anymore.

Lost in her pondering, Sakura did not realize that she had stopped walking, nor the fact that her escort was poking her on the arm as the question lingering in her brain was.

I want to know so badly, but I think it wouldn't be good to ask about… 

_Oh man, why does this have to bother me so much?_

_I'm gone from here, I'm gone from here._

_I don't belong in this place anymore._

"_Sakura…_" someone called her.

What the heck was that? 

_Who's calling my name?_

"Sakura!"

She snapped her head up as her name was shouted, interrupting her from her stupor. A shiver flew up her spine as she felt hot breath making its way down her neck. Sakura spun around in surprise, finally noticing the man in her presence. Bit by bit, she raised her head up and was caught in his eyes, rendering her body useless.

For the second time that morning, the cherry blossom stood unwavering, captured in Syaoran's beautiful amber eyes. The universe seemed to fall away from the couple, leaving them in their own world. It was sudden when she had the inexplicable need to grab him and relax into his arms. Her lips ached for his, longing for a kiss just like the one back at Christmas. She _wanted_ this more than words could say.

Sakura never had the chance to make a move as he stepped forward and pressed his lips to hers, one of his hands snaking around her waist and the other weaving its way through her hair. She unconsciously closed her eyes, sinking into his warm embrace as her body responded quickly to his advance, getting the satisfaction it wanted.

However, it was only a moment later that he pulled away, looking terribly embarrassed. Syaoran licked his swollen lips and cleared his throat, unsure of what to do. He was doing all he could to avoid eye contact with her.

The Kinomoto was only a couple of feet away from him, a familiar expression appearing on her face. How could she have so little self-control? She'd caved after such a short time. She was a weakling!

…But damn, was he attractive, and she was most certainly attracted to him. Sakura had already concluded that she had feelings for him and so all that explained why she was yearning for him so much.

Also, crap. Syaoran had gone and kissed her again, making her even more confused then before. Hadn't her plan been to go away so that he'd get over her, reciprocate Meilin's feelings and then she'd return to Tokyo so the two could become friends again and everyone would be happy…except her. If the Chinese boy had kissed her _again,_ then that would mean that none of what she'd intended to happen had actually happened and all of this would've gone to waste.

This event had just made her feel guilty again. He was supposed to love Meilin! So why the heck didn't he love Meilin yet? She knew she couldn't force love on anyone, but that had been for his own good. Well, if he didn't like her ex-friend at all, then how did he feel about her?

Sakura couldn't help feeling guilty, because when those lips touched hers, she could not deny the fact that she'd enjoyed it, and even before that, she'd wanted it.

"Sorry…" her male companion choked out after a minute, blushing darkly.

"It's fine," she said unsteadily, trying her hardest to dismiss the topic. This was something that the both of them did not want to think about.

They continued their walk, although now, the silence was not quite as tranquil as it had been before the kiss. As they rounded a corner, the duo came to a halt. Their eyes widened as they saw…

"What the…hell?" Syaoran swore in scepticism.

She simply nodded, still staring at the bizarre scene in front of them. Sakura was at a complete loss for words.

-

"What's wrong with her?" Haku muttered as he glared at his blue-haired co-worker.

She shook her head in exasperation. This guy was the most idiotic person she'd ever seen. Even _if_ he was a pretty decent man, he was a dumb ass and jackass when he was in a bad mood. Keiko abruptly had a bad case of nostalgia. She wished they were back in Kawasaki, and then she wouldn't have to be dealing with this.

"Well, first you act all angry towards her, and then she finds out that you're in love with Sakura," she explained calmly, attempting not to lose her patience. "It's a lot to take in at once."

"What do you mean?" he asked curiously, now much more peaceful than before.

Her hand shot out and smacked the back of his head mercilessly for the second time in that room. Was she seriously the only one who was observant enough to notice these things? "You moron! You never realized that Sayuri had feelings for you?"

A low breath was let out somewhere in the room, and Keiko was immediately aware that this discussion had been witnessed by a total stranger. She turned to Tomoyo and gave her a questioning look that asked, 'What do you think about all this?'

"This is like a soap opera," she replied thoughtfully, a judgemental finger tapping at her chin.

Haku let out a groan and cursed under his breath. "I really can't think about all this right now. Can we go somewhere else? Being in this room right now is making me feel gross."

"Where?" asked Tomoyo.

"Anywhere."

"Sure," she answered as she got up from her seat, the male following suit.

The trio exited the lunchroom and trailed after the Tokyo designer. After walking down a few halls without so much as a pause, there was an abrupt stop from their leader. Keiko nearly crashed into her lovesick friend when he and Tomoyo ceased to move. She briefly wondered why, but the question was answered when she spotted Sakura and Syaoran standing on the opposite side of the hall. They seemed to be staring at something, so she turned to see what it was.

"Not possible…" Keiko's mouth produced after a second to process what was in front of her eyes. Looking at this was just _so wrong.  
_

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**Author's Note:** Well, look at that! This chapter didn't contain a lot of physical activity, but there was a good scene between Sakura and Syaoran, ne? Can anyone guess what they all see?

Please review! (I know you want to!)


	20. Is This Love?

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing that involves CCS.

**Author's Note:** Yay! Chapter 20 has finally come! It took me a bit to make this a good chapter because most of it was humour, but in my opinion, it's pretty good! (Maybe not the next chapter… But love chapter 22 when it comes!) Unfortunately, I have not been doing very well in math lately, so I may have to give up some writing time for more studying. (I like being a straight A student… almost…)

**To the reviewers:**

**A Person:** It _is_ somewhat a silly review! I blame it on your friend! Nah, I'm kidding! Any review is appreciated, unless it's just to criticize me.

To the rest of you all, yes, I am very much evil and a lot of you guessed right! Also, thank you, and look! I updated!

Holy macaroni! (Yes, that was a terrible line.) 21 reviews for the last chapter! _21!_ Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you…! So…beautiful! _Sniffle, sniffle!_ I love you guys _so _much! I HAVE FINALLY MADE IT TO 200! Thanks again for helping me achieve my goal! I sincerely hope you like this chapter.

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**Chapter 20 – It this…love?**

_Just stop looking, Syaoran!_

That was what he kept telling himself, but it was easier said than done. This horribly…strange sight was hard to tear his eyes from. It wasn't just weird, but also creepy, surreal, and… sort of hot.

_I did__**not**__ just think that. _

_I didn't._

_I really didn't. _

Staring at this was _not right._ It was disgusting, but he had to keep on looking just to make sure it was real. How the heck had his boss ended up like _this?_ Never in a million years did he think that this would be happening to Sakaki. She beat up men, for goodness sake! Why was she letting a man do _this_ to her?

His female superior had her back pressed firmly up against the wall as she was hungrily sucking on the lips and tongue of the man in front of her. As her hands ran up and down his back, the man's were on her hips to keep her against the wall. _Why the heck were they doing this in the middle of the freaking hall?!_

Syaoran fervently hoped the two weren't planning on doing anything else.

"K-Kamiya-sama… Sakaki-sama…" he heard Sakura rasp out, choking on her on disbelief.

Sama? What the hell! This guy was Sakura's boss? Actually, now that he was examining the guy more closely, he oddly resembled a male version of Sakaki.

He twitched violently. Syaoran was incapable of processing this much information at the time. Man, how he wanted to look in a different direction right now. He just couldn't. It was so… so… Well, whatever it was, it was making it really hard to avert his eyes.

Suddenly, he heard his boss let out a groan causing him to pale with embarrassment, a faint blush appearing on his face no matter how much he tried to suppress it. This man was making Sakaki release _sounds of pleasure._ The cherry blossom obsessive shuddered in fright. Holy crap. The couple was so caught up in their activity they didn't even know they were being watched.

Finally, Syaoran administered enough will power to rip his eyes away from the impossible scene. It was then that he realized that he and Sakura were not sharing this experience alone. Tomoyo and the other Kawasaki designers, except one who seemed to be missing, Sayuri, he recalled, were across from them, staring at the monstrosity as well.

"Oh!" someone behind him squeaked in shock. He whirled and spotted the missing agent. Her hands were clasped over her mouth and her eyes wide with astonishment. He also noticed her eyes were a bit pink and puffy. Syaoran warily suspected that she'd been crying. People had been crying a lot lately.

It appeared that this gasp had been loud enough to alert the two bosses that they had been discovered as they separated their sweaty bodies. He turned back to the lovers to see what had happened.

The man, Kamiya, if he remembered that was what Sakura had called him, looked slightly uncomfortable with the mini crowd of people surrounding them and a little happy for the fulfilment of exploring the violent woman's mouth. There was also a bruise on the side of his face.

Sakaki was looking very flustered at her experience with the man, but still extremely content with what she'd gotten out of it. Her face was nearly the colour of her eyes.

"Uh…" Syaoran spoke quietly, looking around nervously. Now _this_ was awkward…

"Ahem…" the female boss cleared her throat as she looked down.

"You guys were _touching_ each other," the formerly crying girl pointed out, the sound of the statement a bit muffled by her hands that remained over her mouth.

"Well, duh," said Keiko, obviously annoyed that her co-worker was once again stating the obvious.

The two people who used to be… doing their thing remained silent.

"Why were you guys _touching_ each other?" asked Sayuri curiously. Everyone stared at her in disbelief.

"You see, Sayuri, when a man and a woman love each other—"

Syaoran was interrupted when Sakura uncharacteristically bonked him on the head. "Ow!" he moaned in agony. At least that had made the situation more comfortable. "That hurt!"

"You were the one making stupid jokes," she shot back as if the history between them had never happened, face remaining flushed after witnessing the make-out session a minute before.

"You tell him, Sakura!" Haku cheered for her, egging on the pain and scolding for him.

"And you're such a heart warming guy," Syaoran muttered sarcastically. This guy must really hate him.

"When did this become about you three?" the cold female asked, still staring at the hormonal-driven adults.

"Yeah," Tomoyo said, adding herself into the conversation. "I never thought that Sakaki-sama would go out with anyone with the way she beats on guys—don't get me wrong, boss, but you beat mostly on perverts, and all guys are perverts."

"Will you all just shut up?" asked the very much humiliated raven-haired boss.

Syaoran blinked at her. "What? It's not like we're going to make fun of you, Sakaki-sama. Even with your reputation, you're still female. You obviously like the dude a lot."

Now everyone was staring at him. Oh man. Now it was _his_ reputation going down the drain. He just _had_ to put so much sentiment into his cheesy words. He'd only felt sorry for her! Everybody would be laughing about how the tremendously powerful boss, who beat up men quite often, found a boyfriend.

_Aw crap, now I sound like some overly sensitive man._

_I'm really going to get it for this._

"Stop looking at me!" he shouted frantically, flailing his arms about as if a swarm of angry bees were attacking him.

"Well then," Kamiya started, the neutral expression his face usually took on had returned, "shouldn't you worthless maggots be working at this time?"

"Don't call us that!" Sayuri whined as she stamped her feet in a tempter tantrum-like fashion while her lip stuck out, pouting.

"Hey, hey! No need to get verbally brutal. We just wanna know whether or not you wonderful bosses are going out or not!" the amber-eyed man quickly offered, coming to the rescue of the recently tearful girl.

With this question out, the crowd looked for answers in Sakaki, all eyes on her once again, including Kamiya's.

The commonly courageous woman cowered under the gaze of so many curious people. She seemed willing to answer the question, but was unable to answer it herself.

"Um…"

"What is it Sakaki? Is it too much to admit that you're infatuated with a such great man like myself?"

"You be quiet! This is your fault!"

"And how, may I ask?"

"None of this would have happened if you hadn't made a move on me!"

"Oh? But you seemed to enjoy it so much at the time."

"I-I—shut up!"

"Nor did you push me away when I kissed you."

"Are you even _listening to me? I TOLD YOU TO SHUT YOUR MOUTH!_"

"In fact, you responded to it quite quickly."

The agitated woman let out a cry of frustration and proceeded to punch the man in his face. Syaoran winced as the Kawasaki boss crashed into the wall with a loud slam. That _had_ to hurt. Maybe that was where the bruise on Kamiya's face had come from. His clever comments would always give him an ending of abuse.

"You know what? I think I really do like him," Sakaki finally answered with a smirk on her face. She dusted her hands off from her latest 'pervert burial.'

-

_I'm so confused…_

Sakura could not keep her attention span in one place when her mind was out in the real world. Whenever someone was talking, her thoughts seemed to drift back to Syaoran again and again. Needless to say, this was_not fun._ She kept on zoning out at the worst times possible. Right now she was having dinner at a restaurant with her Kawasaki friends and Tomoyo. Though she perceived that Sayuri was doing her best to avoid Haku's gaze or words, she really wasn't thinking about much else than the amber-eyed male. This was terribly embarrassing, inwardly and causing her more humiliation outwardly.

She'd drifted into space when the waitress was taking her order too.

"Hey, Sakura,"

That kiss… What could it mean? Sakura seriously needed to know whether or not he still had feelings for her. Man! Syaoran hadn't been this elaborate before, had he? No way. He was getting awfully close to being an enigma now. Why was he screwing with her mind so much! It was so damn frustrating!

"Sakura, did you zone out again?"

The kiss had been so soft, tender, and it was just so _wonderful._ The security she'd felt in his arms was so strong; she didn't know what to think of it. Now, every time Sakura saw her past co-worker, she wanted to jump into his arms and press her lips to his. She wanted to hug him and love him and just _be _with him. She_needed_ to have his love.

"Please, will you answer me, Sakura?"

Because when he was around her heart started to beat a million times a second. When he was around, she could just be herself and nobody else. When he was around she felt safe, like no one in the world could touch her. When he was around, her insides felt all warm and fuzzy because he cared for her—because he _loved_ her. Sakura wanted to love him and wanted him to love her…

"_Please,_"

…but she would never allow herself to let it happen. Even if she felt this way, she'd made a promise to someone who was important to her and had broken it. She would find a way to make it up to Meilin, no matter what.

"Come back to _Earth_, Sakura,"

"Huh?" Sakura asked looking up suddenly. Had her thoughts gone elsewhere once more?

"You were zoning again," Tomoyo explained, the person who had been trying to get her out of her stupor for a while now.

"Oh…" she whispered apologetically, hearing Keiko and Sayuri bicker in the background. "I'm sorry. I was just thinking a lot…"

Her best friend's head shot up in an instant, leaning in closer to receive the juicy details from the mentally distant woman. "About what?"

Sakura blushed and pulled the curious girl closer to her, her lips ready to reveal her secret. "Syaoran,"

It a moment, Tomoyo had flown off her seat, as if it were on fire, and was squealing with excitement. Sakura, on the other hand, shrunk down in her seat to escape any wondering stares coming in their direction. Perhaps it would have been better if she'd kept this to herself.

"Details! Details!" she shrieked brightly, pulling the brunette to her feet.

"Details about what?" asked Haku, peering at the two girls suspiciously.

"Uh… Girl talk!" Tomoyo shouted in response as she dragged Sakura over to the bathroom. As soon as they were in the safe sanctuary of the ladies room, the grey-eyed female pointed an accusing finger at her friend. "I demand to know what happened with you two during that "talk" you had together!"

"Jus-just stuff!"

"Did that stuff include you two making out?"

"…Maybe?"

"EEEEEIIIII!!" the overreacting female screeched as the cherry blossom covered her ears. "So are you two gunna get together? Huh? Huh? Huh???"

The love-confused woman gulped at this query. If people thought that she and Syaoran were going out, her chances at rekindling her friendship with Meilin would certainly go down the drain. She would not have all her hard work and scheming go to waste! She could possibly get out of this. There was only one way…

"What about you and Eriol? What's up with your relationship?" Sakura asked hastily, turning the tables on her eager best buddy.

"_Our_ relationship? What are you talking about?" the navy-haired maiden countered cautiously. They were entering a very strange topic…

"Yeah. You know. I just want to know how you and your um, _boyfriend_, are doing."

"He's so not my boyfriend. We're strictly friends and that's it."

Sakura could not _believe_ what she was hearing. So _this_ was what Syaoran had been talking about! The poor guy had probably done as much as he could to get those two idiots back together. Honestly,_friends?_ It must've been more uncomfortable around them than_ever_. She had to figure out some way to fix this.

"Hmm? Friends? Are you absolutely, positively certain?"

"Of course!"

"Really? Are you sure? I mean, don't you miss the way he used to hold you…"

"Wh—"

"Or the way Eriol would cheer you up when you were feeling crappy…"

"I have no idea where you're going—"

"Or the way he pulled you into a supply closet in the most random times to have a quick make-out…"

"Sakura—"

"Or the way you guys could just sit with each other in a comfortable silence and just snuggle into each other's arms…"

"Will you—"

"Or the way—"

"Okay, okay!" Tomoyo screamed, shutting her eyes and covering her ears. "I get it, okay? I do miss being with him, but…his feelings are so messed up that I'm not sure I could ever get through to him again…"

The emerald-eyed female smiled reassuringly at her friend, giving her a consoling pat on the back. "Don't worry. We'll get through to him, and if he doesn't want to listen to what we have to say, trust me, I'll make him."

-

Today would be the second day that the Kawasaki agents would be here and Syaoran was completely exhausted. It had been hopeless to even try to sleep last night as that cherry blossom girl invaded his brain. Why couldn't he stop thinking about her? Why could he _never_ stop thinking about her? He was totally obsessed with her. She could so easily dominate him—one question along with a sad face would make him do _anything_ for her. Every time she cried or looked as if she would, he had an intense urge to wrap his arms around her slim figure and tell her that it would be okay. If Sakura smiled at him, a real Sakura smile just for him, he could feel that his legs would buckle beneath him because that simple gesture from her made him weak.

Damn it, Syaoran really didn't know what was wrong with him. All he knew was that he seriously liked Sakura and could only think about _her._ She, however, was so obviously into that Haku guy. Why, he didn't know. That dude was such an ass to him. What in the world could someone as sweet as her see in a jerk like Haku?

Though he really loathed that dick face, if Sakura had the hots for the guy, he would support her. Syaoran _could not_ risk losing her as a friend. Although in reality, he wanted her for his own, it would be better to at least have her in his life rather than not. He couldn't live with himself if Sakura ever hated him.

He didn't even know why he felt like this. Losing the cherry blossom would be like losing his will to live. No hot chick had _ever_ made him feel this way until now. What could this be?

_Is this… love?_

_Do I love her?_

_Is this what love is __**supposed**__ to feel like?_

If you would kill yourself just to be with her, would that be love? That sounded weird. None of it made any sense to him, but he wanted Sakura to be with him all the time. He wanted Sakura to be beside him when he woke up in the morning and never ever see her with a different guy again. No matter how disgustingly cheesy it sounded, he wanted to pull that beautiful girl into an embrace and never let her go.

If that was what love was like, then yes, Syaoran Li was most definitely in love with Sakura.

* * *

**Author's Note:** Haha! Syaoran's great revelation! And man, he thought_Sakura _was dense. Isn't he such an idiot? He thinks Sakura likes Haku! We are all advancing into love nice and slowly! There's your update!

Please review! (My next goal is… 300 reviews! Surprising, eh? Well, go press that review button already!)


	21. Simply Conversations

**Disclaimer:** If I owned CCS, I wouldn't at all be crying right now.

**Author's Note:** I had a serious case of writer's block for this chapter and so I think it's not so great. I'm trying to figure out a way to get Eriol and Tomoyo back together now. I'm tired of them being apart, aren't you? Fortunately, I had an idea and so I'm putting it to action in the next chapter. There's a bit of humour in this chapter though. I liked it.

Yes, I certainly do realize that's it's been a century since I've updated. I can't apologize. The will to write this fic really died down in the last couple of months and combined with a severe case of writer's block. Still, I gotta finish this, ya know? Anyway, I had another reason for not writing lately. My grades dropped because I got so addicted to writing that studying became secondary. I'm usually a seven A's and one B student guys. Not anymore though...

**To the reviewers:** Okay, I guess I do owe an apology to you guys. You guys all took the time to review, which, by the way, made me very happyful inside, and I didn't write. Gah, I suck. Well, anyway, sorry about the long wait and thank you so much for reviewing. Try not to kill me for this chapter.

* * *

**Chapter 21 – Simply Conversations**

"…Keikii?"

"What? And don't call me that,"

"Do you think Sakura likes Haku too?"

"Hmm?"

"You know… Is it possible that Sakura likes Haku as much as he likes her?"

"Of course it's possible,"

Sayuri looked down. That was not the answer that she'd wanted to hear, but if it were the truth, she'd just have to live with it. Sakura would be a lucky girl. Haku was such a great guy; despite the way he'd treated her earlier. Normally he was an incredibly kind man, always putting others feeling before his own.

"…but that doesn't mean it's true," her blue-haired friend continued, causing Sayuri to lift her head in hope.

"What do you mean? You just said it was possible," she countered in misunderstanding.

Keiko nodded, giving her a comforting look. "You're right, I said it was possible. It could happen. I didn't, however, say the chances of them becoming a couple is likely."

"I don't understand, Keikii. Just what are you saying?" the brunette asked in puzzlement. Why did Keiko always have to speak so complicatedly? She barely understood a thing the ice queen was saying.

An agitated sigh escaped the lips of the observant woman, muttering something that sounded oddly like, "It's like talking to the side of my house," It couldn't have been that though, because the cold-eyed female _didn't_ talk to the side of her house. A delusional person who saw weird things might, but Keiko _definitely_ didn't do that.

"Keikii, are why are you talking about houses?"

'Keikii' groaned loudly this time instead of sighing, not even bothering to try and correct her incorrectly said name. "I _mean_ that I don't think Sakura and Haku are going to be a couple, a pair,_boyfriend and girlfriend_, do you get my drift?" questioned her annoyed friend, shaking her head in frustration after re-explaining her statement. (Sayuri was already clueless and it was only morning.)

"Oh…!" Sayuri exclaimed in delight at this very slow taken revelation. "…And why's that?"

-

This morning, Haku had walked into the Tokyo Designer Agency by himself. Keiko and Sayuri had decided to leave earlier to go check out the office (and men) some more and Sakura had been in the shower when he'd left. It was good to be alone and walk in privacy. It would give him time to think about things.

He was angry that Keiko had told the whole world his feelings. It was totally unfair. Haku certainly disapproved of everyone knowing his true emotions towards Sakura, but she'd told the truth and he wasn't one to lie, so how could he deny it?

The emerald-eyed woman was the most beautiful girl he'd ever seen. She had a good heart and a wonderful voice that made him want to open up all the time. A smile from her was like a cure of disease for him while her joy and happiness always spread like wildfire, instantly brightening up any place. There was nothing he didn't love about her.

Then there was that attractive brown-haired, amber-eyed male named Syaoran. It was easy to tell that he had some sort of history with Sakura and still hadn't gotten over it. The looks of this guy were completely out of this world, and he was jealous of that as well as his past with the cherry blossom. Haku didn't want to think about the guy ever laying his filthy and obviously tainted hands on the precious Sakura. He'd only been there a day and the dude was noticeably a male version of Rei, except better looking. He'd _never_ admit he was jealous of the jerk!

His secret was not the only one revealed to the universe either. Keiko had shared Sayuri's undisclosed as well, telling Tomoyo and himself that the playful woman liked him as he liked his host. Haku would not go out with her though, because he _really_ liked Sakura-- no matter how cute, and sweet, and hyper, and clueless, and cheerful, and stunning, and magnificent Sayuri was.

Tomorrow he would ask Sakura, and nothing would stop him.

-

"Holy crap, _get some sense already, Sayuri!_" Keiko shouted in aggravation. There just had to be a way to get through that thick skull of hers. "Have you seen the way Sakura looks at that brown-haired guy?"

"You mean the hot guy? His name's Syaoran, I think," replied the pig-tailed woman, remembering their first encounter.

"Right, so do you recall the moment they were just staring at each other like no one else is around?" she asked, breaking down her whole explanation into smaller pieces so Sayuri could understand.

The girl opposite of her nodded, still picturing the instant in her mind.

"That's usually what happens when you love someone. I think Sakura's in love with Syaoran, and that something happened between them that made her leave here," she finally clarified fully. Sayuri _had_ to be able to comprehend _that_.

She nodded again, slowly, before nodding more rapidly as a smile appeared on her face. "Yeah! That makes a lot of sense! Thanks Keikii!"

"Whatever—and it's _Keiko_," Keiko responded in relief, glad that her friend was now in a better mood.

"Morning, girls," greeted Haku as he stepped into their hallway conversation at the exact correct time.

"Hn,"

"Mo-orning!" the much more gleeful brunette yelled with a giant smile present. "_Haku!_ Don't you think Syaoran's such a cool guy?"

Keiko had to lift a hand to her mouth, concealing a giggle as best she could. Maybe the jolly girl wasn't so brain-dead after all. She was trying to make the dirty blond jealous!

"Uh, no… not really…"

"Why not? Keikii and I think he's nice!"

"I think he's just a big playboy," replied the blue-eyed man stubbornly, the chilly girl's "My name's Keiko," trailing off in the background.

"Well, why don't we find out?" suggested Keiko cheekily, eyeing the amber-eyed Tokyo employee nearing them, obviously having no intention of interrupting them. "Yo, Syaoran!"

Syaoran stopped briefly before walking up to the group of Kawasaki designers. "What's up? Need something?"

"Can you tell us how many girlfriends you've had in your life?"

"Two; one in high school and the other relationship didn't last too long, why?" he told them without a thought, looking confused at their questions.

Both females looked stunned, but then turned to Haku in expectancy. "W-what about flings? You must've had some flings or one-night stands!"

The Sakura-lover raised an eyebrow, then burst out into laughter, holding onto his sides. "You really think I'm a playboy, don't you? Sorry to disappoint you, but that stuff is total disrespect towards women. I might flirt a bit, but one-night stands are going a bit low," he informed them, a hint of hilarity still in his voice.

The jealous male stared in surprise, wondering if his ears were lying to him or not.

"…Of course for you, it's probably an everyday thing,"

The humiliated man snapped and lunged at his rival, ready to punch his eyes out. Keiko's reflexes were faster though, smashing the furious man's head into the wall before he could even lift a fist. Syaoran grinned at this scene and turned to head off.

"See you lovely ladies later—that includes you too, Haku!"

She knew if the guy's head wasn't embedded into the wall, he'd be prepared to kill Syaoran right now.

-

Sakura's eyes were wide with shock, completely taken aback by what her best friend had just told her.

"He _did_ ask you to take him back?" she asked incredulously, wondering what_else_ she'd missed while she was gone.

Tomoyo nodded grimly. "I assume you've also heard about Mizuki, at least,"

"_Mizuki?_ What in the world does she have anything to do with this?"

The blue-haired girl stared in shock. "Nobody told you?" she asked loudly as the two walked the streets of Tokyo, heading to the agency. She probably suspected Syaoran had told her in his emails, but that was completely wrong.

"About_what?_"

"A day after Eriol broke up with me…" the grey-eyed female started, pausing as she bit her lip and took a deep breath. This was obviously not a good memory. "He…"

Sakura put a reassuring arm around her companion, as if to show her it was going to be okay. Eriol would definitely get back with Tomoyo—after she gave him a nice kick in the balls… Speaking of which, she'd said in one of her emails that she would reward the moron with that gift. Now she _had_ to do that. She couldn't take something as important as that back!

"It's okay," she told her friend soothingly. "You don't have to tell me."

"No-no! I do! If you're going to help me, you should know this," Tomoyo sucked in some more air. "A day after Eriol broke up with me, he…he started a physical relationship with Mizuki."

A gasp came from the brunette's mouth. Frankly, all she could say was that she was seriously appalled. Sakura had never thought that the glasses-wielding man's insecurities had been _that _bad. Finding out about this in this present time was terrible. Her friend had had to deal with this problem for so long, without her _best__friend_. "A _day_ after?"

"A day after,"

The image of Eriol was currently _revolting_. Words couldn't describe how disgusted she was with the guy at the moment.

Finally, they reached the glass doors of the Tokyo Agency. Sakura pulled the handle and held the door for Tomoyo to go through first, before entering the place herself.

"Okay, here's the plan. We'll get you and Eriol back together and then we'll each give him a crunch in his coconuts," the Cherry Blossom explained contentedly.

Tomoyo nodded with a big smile on her face, seemingly satisfied with the plan. The emerald-eyed girl had a feeling that this scheme of hers would finally work.

-

Rei knocked on her temporary boss' door and waited for a signal to come in. She waited for a while, standing there impatiently before knocking again, figuring that maybe the woman had not heard her.

Ultimately, the girl decided that it was hopeless and just opened the door without permission.

"What the hell!" she screamed, running from the room when she spotted Kamiya sitting in the boss' chair with Sakaki on his lap, deeply involved in a hot make-out session.

-

The man adjusted his glasses sunk deeper into his office chair. Things had been awfully dull yesterday. Eriol had been stuck in his cramped office catching up on paperwork after lunch and nearly fell asleep eighteen times in his seat. Why he counted, he didn't really know. He was probably just bored. It was certain that yesterday would've been more eventful if he'd gotten out of this horrid room, but it was impossible as it seemed with his previous jumbled thoughts, he would've never gotten anything done.

Unfortunately, today was just as boring.

The navy-haired guy leaned back, recalling the awkwardness at lunch the day before. He idly remembered something about Syaoran talking about weather or some other weak topic, but he'd been too wrapped up in thought to bother logically thinking about his best friend's words. The reason why was obvious. Tomoyo had been in his presence and the picture of her was terrifying yet wonderful. He loved her still, and didn't intend to stop—ever.

_It's okay if we're just friends,_

This is what he told himself to assure his doubts and pain. Eriol knew he didn't deserve her anymore, especially after what he did to her to hide his own insecurities. Remorse had been put away long ago as the fact it wouldn't change a thing sunk in.

Back when Syaoran had practically locked them into the room together, he'd suggested they make up and simply become friends. This had been a ploy to keep her in his life at least. The lucid expression on her face showed she did not want what everyone else wanted: for the two to get back together. Even if that had not been her face in Syaoran's office, the message had been clear months before, after she rejected his plea.

It was okay for him, though. He could always keep his memories of her; the ones that contained all their shared joys and laughs only because the single fight they'd had had hurt their relationship more than he ever thought it could be hurt. Eriol's heart had told him that they were meant to be together, but he didn't listen to it and put his fears ahead of it.

Memories were one thing, but if Tomoyo were always around, he could still see her at the very least. He would still be able to watch her every movement, observe the way she moved, listen to the sound of her melodic voice, and just stare at her as she did whatever she was doing. So what if it made him sound like a stalker. To be near her was a privilege and simply his heaven.

A knock sounded at his door, which he responded to with a lazy, "Come in…"

In came a more-sexy-than-usual Tomoyo wearing a professional black short skirt (showing lots of sexy leg) and a white blouse with the top button undone (showing lots of sexy cleavage). At this, the infatuated man nearly had a nosebleed from the extreme sexiness.

"Morning, Eriol," she greeted seductively, swaying her hips as she walked over to his desk where she decided to sit.

"M-morning," he stuttered nervously, briefly wondering whether she was only doing this for the sake of torturing him. "What are you…doing here?"

She leaned over, revealing more cleavage, to silence him with a finger. Eriol's eyes involuntarily wandered over to her chest. "Shh, I just wanted to see you _so bad_."

Now he was a bit puzzled. Did this mean she wanted him back? This scene was too good to be true. No… his ex girlfriend would never want him back from that look in her eye the other day. This wasn't what she wanted. He had to stop it, not that he wasn't enjoying this fantasy immensely. "I—"

Tomoyo slid off the table and pulled him forcefully off his chair by the shirt, shoving him aggressively against the wall. She advanced quickly and did not wait to put her lips on his, much to his pleasure.

"I love you, Eriol," she declared after separating her mouth from Eriol's for a moment.

His insides were bouncing up and down with happiness. _Tomoyo loved him._ Nothing could ruin this instant.

Eriol's eyes shot open. He lifted his head from the table and observed his very disappointing surroundings. There was nobody else in this room but him.

It had been a dream.

Damn it.

* * *

**Author's Note: **To clear two things up, Sayuri _is not dumb._ She just doesn't understand things well. I just wanted to say that because some of my chapters make her seem stupid, but she's not, okay? Also, previously I think a few of you assumed I hated Meilin. I totally forgot to address this…I think. Well, I _don't_ hate her. Honestly, I don't really care for her much, but I don't hate her. I just thought she fit the part for this story so well! Besides, I already have quite a number of OCs, don't you think? 

Please review! (I'm asking nicely!)

P.S. I may consider updating next week if I get enough reviews. That would be about... 16+. So please review!


	22. How the World Falls

**Disclaimer:** I do not own anything from CCS and nobody can say I copied their story either because I don't read CCS stories, ironically enough.

**Author's Note: **Does the name of the chapter deceive you? It sounds like a sad chapter, but it's not and if you read the end of the chapter closely enough, you'll realize exactly why that's the name. YOU BETTER LIKE THIS CHAPTER! GAR! Haha, okay, you don't have to like it. But you will READ it and you will REVIEW!

**To the reviewers: **My lovely reviewers, I present you with a 3000-word chapter (Okay, 3001)! Partly to make up for the last chapter, which I realize was not the best in this story, and partly for you great and happyful people! You make Hawk very, very, nice and giddy. I'm going to make chapter 23 cool too, just for you guys! A one week update really motivated you readers, didn't it. Well, I'm not sure when the next update will be. Could be two weeks, could be three. It'll most likely be two. Enjoy!

* * *

**Chapter 22 – How the World Falls**

Syaoran could hardly believe what he was hearing. The third day the Kawasaki agents were here had just begun. This week was just so full of surprises! Weird events showed up or people just acted really out of character.

"Say that again, Sakaki-sama?" he requested in disbelief, eye wide with scepticism.

His violent boss raised an eyebrow in annoyance. Clearly she did not like to repeat herself, but it was worth the pain if he could confirm the words that entered his ears were _actually_ the words that entered his ears. Too many uncanny things were happening this week.

"I _said_ I'm giving you, Tomoyo, Eriol, and Meilin time off work. I can see how hard you've been working and so I'm giving you a break. Just make sure a couple of you join our visitors while they explore Tokyo," Sakaki repeated herself with a bit of extra information.

The four designers in the room stared at their usually cruel boss incredulously.

"I'm sorry, Sakaki-sama, but I still don't quite understand," Syaoran told her worriedly, tempted to feel her forehead. "Do you have a fever?"

The black-haired woman looked at her employees. "What the heck are you talking about? Do you want a beating?"

He shrunk away from her as she finished her dangerous question. Why was he the only one inquiring? They were all equally as confused. Finally Eriol stepped in to help his friend.

"We are only concerned about you, Sakaki-sama. It's just that you've been acting a little strange lately is all," the ex-boyfriend explained quickly.

"Strange? What do you mean by that?"

Tomoyo came in too. "You aren't acting like you commonly do."

"Eh?"

"You know, with the violence and all that," the amber-eyed man added while making a sort of hand gesture.

"I also agree," Meilin said quietly as she entered the conversation that was getting worse by the minute. "This break is quite unusual."

Sakaki's eyes remained wide with confusion, but was not hesitant with her reply. "_You_ are the ones acting funny! I should kick your stupid asses right here and now, but I'll relent this one time. Now hurry up and go have some pathetic fun with the agents or else I'll pin you to the wall and rip your useless heads off!"

The four employees flinched, but were very glad their boss' personality had come back. They turned and walked out of the office, a little shaken, but still grateful.

I can't believe she's giving us a day off… Of course we still do have to work somewhat…

"Uh, Sakaki-sama?" Syaoran started almost timidly as he twisted his neck around to see the female again.

"What?"

"Will Kamiya-sama be joining us?"

Suddenly a loud crash was heard from inside the red-eyed woman's closet followed by a fairly thunderous, "Frick!"

The brown-haired male had a slight idea of what the intimidating lady was keeping in there. He shouldn't have asked.

"Where do you _think_ he'll be?" Sakaki shot back at him innocuously, smirking gleefully.

Syaoran felt the blood in his body rush to his face, rewarding him with a face as red as a strawberry. A small shudder made its way up his spine as she sprinted from the scene, telling himself over and over that nobody had been in that closet all night and nobody had joined the person who had not been in the closet all night.

-

"Hurrah! Hurrah! Let's go to the mall!" they sugar-high female shouted in excitement. Sayuri giggled happily and jumped up and down in a childish manner.

It occurred to Sakura that this group was probably not even supposed to be out here enjoying the day at all right now. This had obviously been unplanned although she was glad her friends would be content with this free day of exploration. She knew exactly why they were outside of the agency right now. Sakaki just wanted some alone time with her newfound boyfriend.

In a way, she found this unfair even if she wouldn't have to do anything at all today. No boring tours today unlike the day before where she'd almost fell asleep—but back to the point, she actually _wanted_ to have to do something intended, despite the fact Sakura might want to shoot herself if things got too hideously dull. At least having to concentrate on something else would distract her from her own thoughts. They were completely evil. Every time she closed her eyes a flash of Syaoran's face would appear. It even happened when she blinked! She just _had_ to be involuntarily obsessed with him. Images of him had been pursuing her all last night and plaguing her all day. Needless to say, she was not enjoying this as extensively as Sayuri. Not that having a hot guy mind stalking her wasn't fun, but it was annoying when your will was going against your heart.

The urge to shrink into a tiny block of matter so that nobody could see her was strong today. Why couldn't have her life just turned out to be normal? It wasn't fair that things like this had to happen to her! She couldn't even go to sleep without thinking about him! Him, him, him, _him!_ It wasn't like she hadn't been over this already! Months and months had passed and she could still not force his stupid handsome face out of her head! Her betrayal to Meilin remained and did not intend on leaving no matter what she did to try and rid herself of it.

"Oi! We have to come with you," a slightly traumatized Syaoran announced as he, Tomoyo, Eriol, and Meilin came walking out the door. Some quick introductions were made, as Eriol and Meilin had never met the others yet.

Sakura immediately averted her eyes from her former friend when her old coworkers came through those glass doors. She was not ready for a confrontation.

"Um, well, if it's okay with you guys, I want to go see my boyfriend," she heard Meilin say softly. Her head shot up at this. Meilin had a_boyfriend?_ And it wasn't _Syaoran?_ This would have to go on her list of 'Things to Think About.' "Sakaki-sama said only a few of us have to go…"

"Go ahead, I don't mind staying," the blue-haired man replied as he waved off the request.

So an instant later, the Chinese female was out of sight.

"You_really_ don't have to come with us," Haku told them kindly, although it sounded more malicious to Sakura. That was a tone she never thought would come out of his mouth.

Syaoran grinned delightfully, any look of fear instantly disappearing from his face. "Oh no, no! It's no trouble for us at all!" he responded good-naturedly.

"But it would be so much more convenient to you if you had the day off," the dirty blond insisted slyly.

"You're _too_ kind," the male she had kissed complimented, none of the sarcasm escaping his words. "However, I feel as if my presence would be so much more useful in a wonderful group such as yours."

Tomoyo let out a giggle at her friend's words and his best friend attempted to stifle a laugh. The ice queen's lip quivered slightly, trying to keep a straight face while laughing. Sayuri just looked cheerful as usual and Haku seemed frustrated in losing another verbal battle.

"I simply hope that you go home and rest. You seem very tired and we wouldn't want you to get sick,"

"Really, I appreciate your concern, but I feel great and I want nothing more than to spend my day off with our superb guests!"

This got Haku choking on his words, unable to quickly think of any other witty thing to say. Actually, even Sakura found this quite a display of humour.

Keiko rolled her eyes, though a good mood was pasted in her expression. "You two are incorrigible."

"Don't call me that!" the speechless man protested.

"Ah…yeah. I can't deny that," the other said, mildly proud.

"What's incorrigible mean, Keikii?"

"Go ask the dictionary, and it's Keiko,"

"Who's that again?"

A familiar groan came from the annoyed blue head as Sakura let out a laugh. "Maybe we should go do something?"

"MALL!" screamed Sayuri enthusiastically.

"Crap," Eriol whimpered in dread, paling while recalling the day in which he took Tomoyo to her favourite clothing shop. She'd spent no less than four hours there. "It is _not_ fun to go shopping with girls,"

"Too bad," the cherry blossom giggled, "you already agreed to it!"

Their horrifying fate was sealed.

-

Syaoran glanced back at a snoring Eriol along with his probable mortal enemy on the bench located on the outside of the women's clothing shop they were currently in. Shopping wasn't _that_ bad in his own mind. After all, he was a clothes designer—for men of course. He could've been anything else if he wanted to be, but he was a prodigy when it came to fashion—and he wasn't even gay like most! Well, technically, he wasn't in this shop because he wanted to help the girls pick out clothes. It was true that shopping was pretty troublesome and so he went as minimal times as possible. He just wanted to see Sakura try stuff on. _She was so freaking hot._

"Hey, Syaoran!" Tomoyo called from the fitting room. "How does this look?"

She stepped out and modeled a black blouse for her friend, knowing he'd give his honest opinion.

"Eh, it doesn't suit you. You should try a brighter colour," he suggested thoughtfully as he sat on a chair outside the changing rooms. She nodded and was about to go back into her room when she saw what Sakura was trying on.

"Holy heck! Sakura! Go show Syaoran right now!" he heard the grey-eyed female demand forcefully.

"What? No!" the beautiful brunette shrieked from behind the wall. He could imagine the situation she was in, holding onto the wall for dear life while Tomoyo attempted to pry her clutching fingers off.

He chuckled lightly before he heard a squeal and Sakura stumbled into his vision, a noticeable tiny blush on her face. She stood there embarrassed, wearing a silky, thin-strap, low v-neck white dress that hugged her sides and fell down to her knees. If there were a sunset behind her and her hair were blowing in the wind, it would complete the perfect picture, but it was exploding his mind anyway. She looked so great he thought his nose would burst into blood. He was mildly aware that he was gawking at her, wanting to stare at her forever.

"Ooh!_ Somebody_ likes it!" Sakura's best friend declared, sporting a devilish smile.

"I wanna see!" Sayuri exclaimed keenly, popping out of her own change room in her regular skirt and top.

"Me too," agreed the often silent female as she trailed after her hyper companion.

Syaoran heard words of compliment floating out of the mouths of the others around him that were directed towards the woman he was staring so intently at. He had to concentrate hard to keep his hand from reaching out to her. They were itching to wrap around her waist and his lips throbbed for hers. It was getting _really_ hard to control himself around her.

"You better buy that, Sakura," he whispered so that only he could hear it. Louder, he announced, "I'll be outside with the guys." Syaoran sorely hoped no one could hear the strain in his voice. He had never wanted to kiss her more than he did then. This 'being in love' was getting harder and harder by the minute.

-

"Ice cream!" shrilled the woman with endless amounts of energy as she skipped over to the counter to buy her favourite flavour. Sayuri had once again decided on their next destination in the mall.

Tomoyo sighed and scanned the board for a good tasting ice cream. It was always so hard to choose in these places with an endless amount flavours. So many to choose from!

Finally, she settled on green tea ice cream and bought a double scoop cone. After this, the blue-haired designer headed over to the table where everyone else was sitting, already licking eagerly at their snack. Syaoran, oddly, was sitting on the far top right at the table with Keiko to the left followed by an empty seat. On the far bottom right was Sayuri with Haku to the left followed by Sakura. She wondered why the male pursuing her best friend was sitting so distantly from her, but dismissed the question from her mind immediately. There were better things to think about other than these two's run-and-hide relationship. There was no telling when they'd finally admit they loved each other.

"Hey," she greeted, walking to the unoccupied seat.

"Wait!" Sakura yelled hastily, stopping the blue-haired in her tracks.

"Hi," said a certain ex boyfriend behind her. He, apparently, had also taken a little longer to decide his order.

"You… You can't sit here," the emerald-eyed lady told them, making a shooing motion with her hand. What did she mean?

"There's still another seat," Tomoyo pointed out sensibly. " And we can bring another one."

"There's no more room," she countered, shooting a glare at Syaoran. Oh no. The cherry blossom was being true to her word. She was getting them back together.

"…Sorry guys, but we're using it," Syaoran fibbed hurriedly before he stripped off his jacket, revealing some very well-toned biceps in which Sakura's eyes visibly caught, and tossed it passed Keiko and onto the formerly vacant chair. Her friend helped out by putting her bags down on the seat to fill it out more as Sayuri shrugged carelessly and added her belongings to the pile.

"You…were not," Eriol retorted, letting his argument die on his tongue.

"It's alright! Look, there's a table for two people down there," Haku informed the exes, using his finger to indicate the position of the seat.

He was right. The only table left in this, what Tomoyo thought was now quite venomous, shop was a small table in the corner of the room. It looked like a quite place where an ideal couple would generally go to get some peace and privacy on a date. Unfortunately, Tomoyo and Eriol were not an ideal couple at the moment and _were not_ on a date.

"I'm not sitting there," they concluded sulkily in unison, causing Sakura and Syaoran to break into laughter.

"Just go already," the icy woman ordered, rolling her eyes in annoyance. "Your lack of experience in stalling is making my ice cream melt."

The grey-eyed female sighed as she saw the soon-to-be couple react accordingly by laughing even harder. She decided there was no other option but to cave and so she walked off to the deserted corner to sit. Eriol followed quite soon after.

The missing sound of voices was even more awkward when Syaoran was not around to separate them at the middle. Neither of them liked this silence. Tomoyo felt like squirming in her seat as she licked her cold snack. What was she supposed to say to him? There _was_ nothing to say. All had been said and done in the last few months. They were friends, although it didn't feel much like it. In fact, 'friends' had been thrown out the window long ago, despite their agreement to simply know each other by that term. It didn't feel right at all. So what exactly were they? They could be exes, maybe, and possibly acquaintances? 'Friends' would never be a word that described their relationship. It was too complicated in every way.

"I'm sorry," Eriol apologized suddenly.

"For what?" she asked right back. It seemed more natural to question it, though she already knew what he was referring to.

"Everything," the male with glasses quietly as he took another steal from his cone. He had said this many times before, but unlike every other time, this one didn't sound so struggled, like he'd gotten over the inescapable obstacles.

"I know, Eriol, we've put each other through a lot, but it's over now," Tomoyo told him as if to consol him.

"No it isn't," he replied, his head low enough so that she couldn't see his face.

She didn't understand what he meant this time. To her, it _was_ over. They'd gotten through their own fair number of hardships and survived, except ended up without each other. That was it. The end.

"It _is,_" she pressed on. The situation was getting uncomfortable all over again. "Nothing bad is going to happen to us again. We're not together anymore."

"I know, but I don't like it like this," he murmured sorrowfully. Tomoyo could easily detect the pain in his voice. "I love you,"

It was a huge pleasure to hear the words come from his lips again, just for her, but at the same instant, it brought back the nightmarish memories. She wanted so badly to say it back to him because it was true. She _did_ still love him. She _did_ want him back, regardless of those bad times. All couples had fights. Still, nothing would come from her mouth. She didn't know why, but she couldn't seem to say it. Those three words Tomoyo had thought of for years and months and days were so foreign to her now.

Her long pause had ostensibly handed him a big misunderstanding. "…I see…" Eriol forced out, standing up to leave.

Seeing this, she panicked at her dying chance at getting him back into her arms. Ice cream accidentally discarded on the floor, she yelled, "Wait!"

Tomoyo grabbed him arm and tugged his hurrying form back, causing him to lose his balance. The world fell sideways around her as she toppled to the floor with her ex landing on top of her. She could feel hot breath on her face as she realized Eriol's lips were a mere centimetre away from hers.

* * *

**Author's Note:** What a fun chapter to write! It was long, but brilliant! More mall fun is coming up next chapter! Expect more Haku and Syaoran brawls! 

Please review! (And I won't attack you when you're sleeping. I mean, come on! It takes barely and minute and out of 300 readers, only roughly twenty review!)

Okay, okay. Sorry. I didn't mean to threaten. Please review!


	23. The Pointless Competition

**Disclaimer:** If I owned CCS, I would be writing a different story than this one, which I will in the future.

**Author's Note: **I eat people. Yes, that was random, and yes, that was also untrue. Okay, anyway, so I said I'd probably update in two weeks. _Smiles innocently._ I lied, but you guys aren't the only ones that have lives. In fact, I have three test next week and I'm going to die, so don't fret. That's why I'm posting now. Do not underestimate me though, as I may survive this terrible ordeal. Am I being especially weird today? I think so. It's probably because I was writing chapter twenty-five and then my word screwed up and said it had to close. Freakishly scared, I pressed okay, then it closed. I reopened and found out that the whole last part I wrote had been demolished. Then I did something I have not done for a very long time. I threw a temper-tantrum. That's correct. You read correctly. I threw a temper-tantrum on my bed. Luckily, my parents didn't notice to much... -;

**To the reviewers:** Oh my great seventeen reviewers! I thank you for you so wonderful reviews! I'm working on figuring out how to use the reviewer response thing so that I can personally reply and answer any questions asked, so if any of you have a question, ask in your review! Here is the next chapter, a good chapter for all of you to enjoy!

* * *

**Chapter 23 – The Pointless Competition**

Ice cream was long forgotten as the group watched the couple on the other side of the room quite intently. All had been informed of the story and were so engrossed in it that the melting substances in their hands hadn't even remotely disturbed anybody.

They observed Eriol stand up heatedly and begin to walk away before Tomoyo pulled him back desperately. They fell, together, onto the floor in a very, very, compromising position. What they would do next was quite debatable.

"He's going to make his move!" Sakura whispered excitedly. This was the moment she'd been waiting for!

-

She breathed slowly; taking deep inhales to placate her ragged breath. Her eyes were half closed, only open wide enough to look into Eriol's eyes, sparkling brightly.

_Kiss me…_

_Please kiss me, Eriol…_

_It will make things so much easier…_

As if he'd heard her thoughts, Eriol closed the space between them and crushed her lips with his own. _Finally_ she got the ultimate satisfaction. Tomoyo gladly put her arms around his neck, hungrily reacting to his advance instinctively.

Their kiss deepened as she opened her mouth to let him reclaim his territory. Her lips burned with pleasure, running her right hand through his hair amid the passion. It felt so _good._

"_Ahem!_"

Alarmed and moderately disappointed, Eriol shot away from his lover quicker than lightening. One of the people who worked at the ice cream shop stood over the two, glaring furiously down at them. They then found out that there were people from the shop surrounding them from every direction. Tomoyo glanced at the table where her friends were supposed to be. The Kawasaki agents were sitting there with all sorts of smirks on their faces while Syaoran and Sakura were grinning at them like idiots as they waved eagerly. She sent them a seething look, but then smiled at the pair soon after. They _had_ given her the chance to get Eriol back, after all.

"…Yes?" she asked innocently to the pissed-looking man hovering over them.

"You can't _do_ that here!" he hissed hotly, pointing squarely at the door.

Eriol's face cracked into a long needed grin. "And this 'that' you are referring to is what?"

The ice cream man fumed, his face turning pinker than it was before. "Out! Get out now!" he bellowed wrathfully.

Not waiting a second for the rest of the group, Tomoyo and Eriol dashed out of the shop and fell into a fit of laughter, clutching their stomachs urgently. Their moment of sheer joy soon died down and a short period of silence ensued.

"Does this mean…we're back together?" Eriol asked in uncertainty, fiddling with his fingers nervously.

"Yes, you idiot!" she replied merrily as she jumped into his arms and planted a small kiss on his lips.

Eriol stiffened. "And what about what happened before?"

"It's all behind us now, okay? Now shut up and kiss me,"

He smiled and they both decided to go for another make-out session.

-

When Syaoran and the others left the ice cream place, Tomoyo and Eriol were already outside making-out unashamedly. He wasn't exactly overjoyed to see tongues flying about once again, but he was relieved that the couple had worked things out and were finally back where they belonged. Honestly, this was the only thing he'd anticipated throughout this last week.

"Yosh! You shouldn't do that in public!" Syaoran shouted at the very happy couple and they flatly ignored him.

Sakura frowned and gave him a light shove as she moved beside him. "Give them a break. They _did_ just get back together, after all."

"Still, they shouldn't be recuperating in the middle of the mall. It's not exactly the most undisclosed place," he argued.

"You prove a good point, Syaoran, but tell me, haven't you ever made-out in a mall?"

"No, but you wanna help me make that a yes?"

Apparently, Sakura could not take a joke and turned an unnatural shade of pale red. Jeez! All he'd done was flirt a teensy little bit, and then everything changed back to its regular seriousness.

"Don't say those types of things!" she squeaked in embarrassment.

And suddenly Haku was there by the brunette's side. "What did you say to her?" he asked possessively, trying to placate Sakura as she alternated from pink to strawberry red.

Syaoran rolled his eyes. _It was harmless flirting._ Really, what happened to those days where you could just say whatever you want without someone trying to find ways to beat you up? "Just told Sakura not to marry you, because if she woke up and saw your face, she'd become blind in a second."

Despite herself, Sakura started laughing at the amber-eyed boy's clever remark. On the contrary, Haku was so furious that he looked like he was steaming from the ears. If the guy wanted to fight, Syaoran would give him a fight. He could beat this guy in every aspect of life. Right now, he was certain the blue-eyed, dirty blond wanted to deck him more than ever for humiliating him in front of the dainty cherry blossom.

He would never get his chance.

"Haku, behave yourself," Keiko commanded him, shooting the man the most intimidating expression anyone had ever seen, aside from Sakaki's.

"Yeah! I wanna go to take some pictures together next!" the lively female announced, grabbing the very angry man by the arm and began to drag him in a random direction in the mall.

During this time, the recreated couple decided to separate and follow the group to wherever Sayuri was leading them.

-

"How about here?" Sakura suggested, pointing cheerfully to the arcade in front of them.

"…This is an arcade," Haku deadpanned in hesitation.

"Your point?"

"Never mind," he said, unwilling to argue with her. "But why this place?"

"Because it has photo booths for cheap prices!" she replied, proud of her accomplishment of finding this place.

"Go Sakura!" Sayuri cheered optimistically while clapping her hands and jumping up and down. "Well, since we're here, can we play some games too? I wanna try some Tokyo arcade games!"

"There's nothing different about the arcades here and the arcades back in Kawasaki," Keiko informed the ecstatic girl unenthusiastically.

"Sure there is!"

"And what's that?"

"They smell different!"

"…?"

"Whatever," Eriol broke in at the strange comment. "I'm game with hanging out here,"

"Same," Syaoran gave a nod.

"That's just because you're boys, but I'll come anyway," Tomoyo added.

"Then let's go!"

Inside the arcade, the gaming got going almost right away. Sakura suspected that there was some kind of unspoken rivalry between Syaoran and Haku because they started putting coins in two player games and trying to beat each other in them. The usual outcomes of these games were ones where Syaoran came out the winner. The two males were playing practically _everything_. She just _had_ to wonder where they got all those coins from.

After awhile, a crowd began to form around the duelling men and coins were thrown at them from all directions, as people wanted them to play more games. The guys gladly complied.

"I kind of wonder what they're doing," Sakura told the group of women around her. They all stood in the mass of people, watching the two agents battle it out in virtual worlds, besides Eriol, who was standing in the front cheering for his best friend.

"It looks like they want to kill each other," the yellow-eyed brunette stated, and true to her words, they really _did_ look like that. "They can't kill each other for real, or they'll go to jail. Maybe they're using games to do it,"

Keiko snickered at this theory. "You know, that actually makes sense coming from you, Sayuri,"

"Thanks, Keikii!"

"It's_Keiko!_"

"I know what they're doing," Tomoyo declared with a grin.

"Really? Tell me! I don't get it!" the emerald-eyed woman whined, shaking her companion by the shoulder.

"Sayuri's partly right. You can tell very easily that Syaoran and Haku don't like each other, but they're also trying to figure out who's better than whom. It's a battle of pride and of whose ego deserves to be bigger."

"Why? That's so _pointless_."

"Exactly," the blue-haired girl finished with a slight nod. "Didn't you ever find out that boys fight over the stupidest things?"

She considered this. Sakura recalled a time where her brother and father had been fighting over something. Later, they were arguing about something totally irrelevant to what they'd been yelling about earlier. After that, they got into a huge brawl do to with who cooked better and so each made a dish and made her be the judge. When Sakura had told them that she thought the dishes were equally as tasty, they got mad at her too.

Where the fight had started, she didn't know, but she was happy her sibling and father had eventually forgiven each other. Was this happening with Syaoran and Haku as well? They _were_ male, after all.

Now the two men were facing off in a Dance Dance Revolution match. Syaoran was winning, keeping his cool in their fierce competition while Haku was getting really pissed off at the game, refusing to lose but doing so anyway. Sakura didn't even understand why they disliked each other so greatly. Haku was always a rather nice fellow and Syaoran was kind and fun to be around, as long as you didn't take his teasing seriously. Her blue-eyed co-worker she'd always teased before, and he didn't seem to mind. She couldn't comprehend the reason now.

"Damn it!" Haku shouted in frustration as the song the two were dancing to came to an end. The points were added up and he ended up losing by a million. Half the crowd was going wild and the other half were booing left, right, and centre. "Let's play another round!"

At this suggestion, Sayuri hopped up to Haku and pushed him off the dancing pad. "No! We're going to take pictures now!"

"But—"

"_Now!_"

-

The booth definitely said that it should fit only five people, but most people disobeyed this order anyway. So their group was only two people over, so what, right?

Syaoran felt mildly disturbed being stuck in this booth. Everyone's body was so close to another's. Not to mention that Sakura was beside him, and this stall was so tiny that she was involuntarily pressed up against him.

Oh god, he was going to die.

He could already hear the chaos around him. What in the world was Sayuri thinking? She must seriously be evil or something! This was terrible! And _why_ did Sakura have to be beside him? He was freaking getting turned on!

"Haku,_move now or die,_" was the threatening statement that came from Keiko's mouth.

Unsurprisingly, the dirty blond attempted to move, failing miserably as there wasn't exactly another place to move. He could understand where Keiko was coming from, though. It was hard not to beat up the guy next to you when there was no space and his hand was on what girls have in the chest area. Luckily, Syaoran was not a girl and had no risk of this. He was especially glad he wasn't Keiko right now because having_Haku's_ hand on your chest seemed a little less than pleasant.

Tomoyo's voice then rung out with distaste. "_Eriol_, don't touch me there!"

"I didn't mean to! I swear! It was an accident!" he defended quickly. Whether a girl had the tendency to be violent or not, it didn't matter. An angry female was _not_ good to be around.

He figured Eriol already had it good enough. "It's not good to lie, Eriol!" Syaoran shouted teasingly, in a desperate attempt to forget about the attractive cherry blossom that was so close to him.

"Everybody shut up, kay?" yelled Sayuri, pressing the buttons on the screen.

_She__** must**__ be crazy._

That was the only explanation for people over twenty years old to be in an arcade for teenagers and be taking sticky pictures that were all cutesy.

Flashes that made his eyes hurt began, but at the very least, being blinded was helping him think about other things than his love. There was absolutely no clue as to what was happening anyhow. Syaoran was at the back, and he couldn't see a thing. This place was hot and sweaty, and a potential make-out place, but not when there were five other people around. He just wanted to _leave_. Why in the world had he even agreed to this again? Oh right, because they were from Kawasaki and they were the guests and they were blah, blah, blah…

"It's…squishy…" he heard Sakura mumble grouchily, as unhappy with the situation as most of them were.

Oh,_now_ she talked. Just when he thought he would have break from all this, her sweet voice would come waltzing back into his ears. Where were those plugs again…?

Finally, only after Sayuri's thirst for photo-stickers had been sated, they got out of the cramped booth and dashed from the arcade. Yes, it was just that terrible. But _god_ it felt nice to be out of that place! It was like someone wanted him to be stuck in that torturous nightmare forever. Having Sakura so near him and not being able to hold her and say that she was his gave him the urge to bite his own arm off.

"Are you happy _now_, Sayuri?" the cold woman hissed in agitation.

"Sure am, Keikii!"

And with that, another round of arguments started between the two girls. Syaoran sighed in relief. The day was nearly over—until another voice caught his attention.

"Sakura… Can I talk to you for a second? I mean, in private?" Haku asked nervously. He was standing in front of Sakura, fidgeting with his fingers and looking at the ground. When she nodded, they went around a corner.

He knew he shouldn't have, but the temptation was simply too hard to resist. Syaoran crept to the corner and stayed behind it to make sure he would be unseen. Nobody else in the group had noticed this, too enticed by the girls' hilarious conflict to be affected.

"What do you need, Haku?" the feminine voice questioned the other.

"Y-you see… I kind of…well…wanted to ask…if you would-would maybe like to go out…sometime…? Just the two of us?"

Something inside him really hurt. He couldn't listen to anymore of this, so he hastily walked off on his own, figuring that nobody would miss him. Syaoran was angry with himself for trying to spy on Sakura and Haku. He'd ended up only hurting himself more.

Haku had asked the question, and the answer was already clear.

_It'll be a yes. _

* * *

**Author's Note:** Hokay! That's the end of this chapter! I don't know when I'll update next, but I need three things: my internet, inspiration, and motivation (which you readers can up by reviewing!) Well, see you guys around! 

Please review! (Oh, and here's another thing I don't get. Why am I on 91 people's alert list and only approximately 18 people review every chapter? It's a bit irritating, but nothing _I_ can do, eh?)


	24. The Right Thing

**Disclaimer:** I do not own CCS…I think… Mm, okay, yeah. No, I don't.

**Author's Note: **Finally I'm putting up the 24th chapter. I'm not even done the 26th chapter, like I wanted to be, but I thought it would be mean to torture you guys any longer. XD Honestly, throughout the whole break, I only wrote one chapter. I _was_ hoping to write more than that, but I couldn't due to evil computers and lazy fathers. First off, my dad gave my sister a newer and faster computer while he combined mine with her old one, which was not a good idea as I received the most pissing computer ever. I was too afraid to type on it because that _thing_ resets every five seconds. Yesterday it reset ten times! I HATE THAT THING! So I had to use another computer, and here's your chapter.

**To the reviewers: **_Sniff, sniff._ Oh my lovely reviewers, I'm so grateful, I'm so happy! Thank you for the feedback and constructive criticism! I appreciate it! I think that I've replied to everyone using the private messaging thing, so check it out if you haven't already! This chapter's for you guys!

* * *

**Chapter 24 – The Right Thing**

Sakura was trying to comprehend the words just said to her. "…Could you repeat that?" This was not good. She could feel her head pounding painfully, alerting her that a headache would be coming on soon. Had Haku just asked…? No, he couldn't have. Besides, she'd had enough drama in the past year to last her a lifetime.

"I want to know if you would go out with me, Sakura," he answered, more confidently this time.

She looked at the male incredulously, her mouth opening slightly as if to say something, then just hung there quivering in bewilderment. Yes, she would definitely need an aspirin later.

Blinking was her first reaction, not quite sure what to say after this confirmation. He was—He was her…_friend!_ Nothing more! How long could this have been going on for? No… It would only be worse to think about it. There must be some higher power playing a sort of cruel joke on her, though to Sakura, it wasn't funny at all. Sufferance wasn't hilarity in her book. It would be impossible to have as much emotional torture as she'd endured within her years of living, yet it had happened anyway. Things had been sailing almost smoothly, the wrinkles and creases of the past becoming flat. Now though… Now…things would get complicated again and it would be her fault all over again. This pattern was downright familiar.

_What could she do?_ Sakura hadn't asked for it to be this way. Never. Last time selfishness had gotten the best of her, consuming her more easily than food could be swallowed, but this time…

Could she let that happen?

Saying yes to Haku would probably be the most logical decision based on the fact that it would be the least hurtful. Still, she had a tingling feeling that one of her friends had a thing for him. It was intuition, and there was nothing she could do about that.

_Yes…_

The words echoed in her head like resounding gong that's resonance refused to cease. The words… They just felt so…_icky_ when she thought about Haku. She thought she would faint at the words: _I do._

What would be the right thing to do? This was a huge dilemma—every path she took seemed to be dark and dreary. Hurting him was very possible, but deceiving him would be worse. Sakura could not live in a relationship that was one-sided and keep leading the man on. She would never forgive herself.

_I guess I can't always keep everyone happy…_

But… She hated it watching it happen; especially when the pain caused was because of her.

"Haku…" Sakura whispered guiltily, glancing down at her feet. Suddenly it seemed like a much nicer view. "I'm sorry, but I don't feel like that towards you,"

He was broken, the disappointment and ache evident almost instantly. "I-I see…"

The brunette bit her lip lightly, her eyes beginning to burn with tears. She wished she could cut herself away from everyone else, if only to keep herself from hurting people again. She was doing to Haku what Lei had done to her: breaking his heart. For her, that pain was known well and the fact she'd inflicted it on one of her closest friends was a hard punch in the gut.

"I'm sorry…" she mumbled again, quiet enough that her words were incoherent.

Everything was wrong, again.

-

A distraction was needed, desperately. Free time in his office would only lead to pondering, which ultimately led to Sakura. Syaoran didn't want to think of Sakura, especially since she was with another man. He'd seen it with his own two eyes. There would be no need to doubt it anymore. He would never get the girl.

"Sakura…" Syaoran sighed in deep depression. Nothing seemed to go his way.

Crap. He was thinking again. There was no sanctuary anywhere. His office would bring him gloomy thoughts, his house would bring him gloomy thoughts, and outside would bring him gloomy thoughts. Where was his shoulder to lean on? Oh, right. It was making out with Daidouji Tomoyo.

_You suck, Eriol._

Of course, this mentally thrown insult had no effect on the man, nor did it make Syaoran feel any better at all. He didn't want to imagine Sakura with another man—hugging another man, kissing another man,_loving_ another man.

The currently emo amber-eyed man shook his head in frustration. He was thinking again. Again, again, again. Apparently, there was no end to that word.

Kiss.

Why that specific vocabulary word randomly popped into his head was an enigma.

Kiss.

A memory burst into his head, the single moment he had been in a state of euphoria.

Kiss.

Had she simply been teasing him? Giving him false signals so that she could laugh at him later?

Kiss.

She hadn't pushed him back. It was he who had taken the initiative to fix what he had started.

Kiss.

It must not have been a mistake, or else she wouldn't have responded.

Kiss.

The touch of lips had been so passionate, so heated, and so loving.

Kiss.

_Did that kiss mean nothing?_

-

"I'm lucky to have you," the tall man told her, kissing the top of her head and then her gloved hand.

Meilin giggled, unable to recall a time when she had been treated this godly. Lei made her feel worshipped, like a princess with more servants than hairs on her head. A warm feeling engulfed her chest, despite the fact it was freezing this morning. He was just _so_ sweet! With a single touch of his lips, every problem that entered her mind melted away. It just showed that she could have an honest man in her life, even if it wasn't Syaoran.

"I love you, Lei," she confessed quietly, giving his hand a squeeze to prove her affections to him. It hadn't been very long at all, but she'd fallen for him fast and hard, not regretting it for a second.

"And I love you too," Lei assured her as they walked down the streets hand-in-hand.

Her mind was set at ease with this information, smiling and looking ahead while her thoughts drifted over into an entirely different topic. It was something she hadn't thought about in a small while. This…was the week. This was the time to make amends with her friend. Meilin had not told Lei yet because she wanted them to meet when they were on good terms. A lump in her throat suddenly appeared as she tensed up slightly. Nervousness built up in her system. She didn't know what to anticipate. Sakura, though, was the forgiving type of girl, so hopefully she would accept the apology.

"Something on your mind?" asked her boyfriend with a look of concern weaved on his handsome features.

Meilin shook her head, kissing him chastely on the cheek as a signal that nothing was bothering her. "There's no problem. Don't worry about me,"

He nodded, and then pointed at a bubble tea shop. "Want some?"

"Sure," the Chinese female agreed hastily, "but I get to pay this time!"

"Okay…"

She let out a soft laugh at his gentleman-like behaviour. Lei was constantly offering to buy her things that she had shown interest for.

With a whip of her hand, she drew her light blue wallet from the purse she'd been carrying around all day. Meilin dug through it, in search of cash. She frowned unpleasantly. Why was there so little? She was sure she'd put in at least seventy-five percent more yen than she had now…

"What's wrong?"

"—Oh, nothing at all," That said, she paid for two orders of the drink, discarding any suspicions or worries in her head.

-

"Why must you guys always insist on dragging me out here?" Sakura groaned in exasperation as her friend forcefully tugged her down the streets. It was just the girls today.

"Because you were going to go into withdrawal or something similar. This is the only way to avoid something stupid like that!" her best friend explained, pushing the brunette on the back.

As Keiko pulled on an arm, she stated, "We _know_ what happened with Haku,"

Sakura jolted in surprise, causing the group of females to lose their balance at the sudden stop. "_What?_ How do you know?!"

"We're not _that_ unobservant," replied the cold ice queen with a roll of her eyes.

"And we're not mad either!" Sayuri called out, hauling the other arm. "Why should I? I like Haku and I want him for myself!"

The group sweat-dropped. "It's not all that simple," they chorused through dull tones.

Keiko recomposed herself and cleared her throat. "Sakura, it's not your fault that Haku's a stubborn ass. He's just a baby. He'll get cranky if he doesn't get what he wants."

"I'll give it to him!" the simple-minded girl volunteered, raising a free hand in excitement.

"I swear I'll kill myself one day," Sakura heard Keiko mutter agitatedly.

"As always, Sakura, you're popular with the boys," Tomoyo stated, giggling girlishly.

The group continued to heave the cherry blossom down the street through crowds of people on a hot day. "Aren't we supposed to work today?" asked the emerald-eyed victim in desperation, feeling trapped in a world where there was no place to go. "Our day off was yesterday!"

"We asked Kamiya-sama this morning. He approved," the blue-haired woman told her with a flinch unable to be kept invisible. "Sakaki-sama also agreed as long as we would leave them alone."

Shudder.

"GIRL'S DAY OUT!" screamed Sayuri noisily, pumping a slim arm into the air.

They received some stares, which they flatly ignored. Sakura wondered if her friends actually knew her this well. Tomoyo might have known that the situation would have become awkward once again, but Keiko and Sayuri too? Was she that easy to read? Haku… She hadn't come in contact with him ever since the rejection the day before. The brunette didn't know what the encounter would be like, albeit it would most likely be strange and uncomfortable. She didn't _want_ to think about it.

"Thanks, guys…" she breathed in gratitude.

"That's what friends are for, right?" the golden-voiced woman replied.

She nodded brightly, but her eyes fell to the floor again after a short time. "What about Haku?"

"I'm gunna get him!" shouted the yellow-eyed female in determination. "And I won't give up either!"

A groan came from Keiko.

"Just act like you would before this whole incident happened. I'm sure you and he were pretty good buddies," Tomoyo suggested intelligently.

"I hope I can handle that…"

-

"Ugh…" Syaoran moaned in sorrow, moping at his desk yet again, except this time, Eriol was with him.

The other man grimaced. "Dude, why are you so depressing? Jeez, it's like hanging out with a goth," he said as he sat upon the amber-eyed man's table.

Syaoran glared hard at his best friend. Oh yeah, so Eriol was here _now_, eh? What was the purpose of this? That jerk he called his 'best friend' just raved on about his _burning heart_ and his pathetically _sorrowful life_ without his beloved Tomoyo to guide him. Honestly, Syaoran hadn't even gagged, though the urge to do so had been powerful. Right, so _he_ was the emo one, eh? Eriol wasn't even here to offer any consolation.

"I hate you man," he hissed in frustration. This guy was just _so_ insensitive. Jeez.

"Hey, hey! Don't start cutting yourself on me now!" Eriol teased in boredom, waggling his finger haughtily.

"On you? Why not? I want to get blood on you if you're being an annoying ass."

"Hold up, dude. What is _up_ with you?" asked Syaoran's companion, now looking a bit worried.

"Whatever, just get out," he ordered angrily, lifting a hand to idly point at the door.

Eyes narrowed in confusion. "It's Sakura again, isn't it?" he remarked.

"We already went _over_ this," Syaoran growled defensively.

"Uh… When exactly?"

"You know, that time when… Oh, shut up! I already told you about this, okay?"

"No you didn't! Come on, I can't help if you haven't told me anything!"

"WHAT'S THERE TO TELL?"

"SOMETHING YOU HAVEN'T TOLD ME YET!"

Syaoran squinted in thought. "Oh, I guess that makes sense."

"…"

"…"

"DUH! NOW SHUT UP AND TALK!"

-

A bag hung off Sakura's arm that contained a gift from all her friends. It was a little stuffed teddy bear that held a heart reading: Happiness. Sighing, she thought about that word. It was an emotion she hadn't truly felt unless she was around… NO!

_Bad thoughts! Bad thoughts!_

_I can't…think about that._

_It'll be too hard again._

_Not again._

_I don't want to go through it again._

_Parting like that was too hard._

"Wow! That was a close one!" came Sayuri's call of relief.

"Baka! Be more careful!" Keiko scolded her, tugging on the brunette's shiny locks.

Sakura was unable to stifle a giggle after watching her fellow worker nearly drop a glass figure she'd been examining. She was seated on a bench, not much in a shopping mood while the rest of her group were in a small side shop with girly-cutesy stuff everywhere.

"Do you like yours?"

"Of course I do! It's almost as sweet as you—almost,"

She turned her head, realizing a couple had just sat down beside her. Sakura couldn't see the man or the woman's face, but the man seated next to her felt familiar. His presence was very… She didn't know how to describe it, but it was mildly disturbing.

"Eh? Sakura?" asked the mysterious man.

Sakura jumped in her spot and scooted back a little. The recognition came immediately.

"Y-you!" she spluttered in revolt, parting from beside him as far as she could. "What are you doing here?" she demanded.

Lei smirked playfully. "I'm here with my girlfriend, Meilin," he finished, wrapping his free arm around his girlfriend.

She finally caught a glimpse of the face—the glimpse of Meilin's face.

The girl she promised.

* * *

** Author's Note: **BWAHAHAHA! This is just the beginning!...Although I am trying to finish in thirty chapters. Ahh, I so totally LOVE the next chapter! I can't wait to post it! Chapter 25 will be up soon...well...depending on reviews and my motivation. Since school's coming soon, I'm going to try to finish some extra chapters before mid-terms. I HATE MID-TERMS! I HATE SCHOOL! Get my point? Anyway, I'll update next Friday if I get... how about 25 reviews? I'll update next Sunday or Monday if I have over twenty, BUT BEWARE! That might be the last chapter for the rest of January due to horrifying studying. 

Happy 2008!

Please review (If you want an early update or just because you're cool)!


	25. The Retaliation

**Disclaimer:**I think CCS is too girly for me to ever have made up.

**Author's Note:** To be honest with you, I'm not exactly in the best of moods right now. In fact, that's an understatement. I AM DOWNRIGHT PISSED RIGHT NOW! MY COMPUTER RESET ON ME THIRTEEN TIME IN A TOTAL OF TEN MINUTES, AND THEN I HAD TO RESET IT TWICE BECAUSE IT FROZE! I HATE THIS STUPID MACHINE! Despite that, please don't let my angry author's note ruin this chapter... See? I'm being nice because I updated early! Please read the important note, as it is extremely important.

**To the reviewers: **Watch out, guys. This chapter's gunna be the start of a giant drama fest. I originally wasn't going to update this chapter today, but because you guys are such good readers and reviewers, I decided that you deserved this. What you don't deserve is the note below. Heck, even _I_ don't deserve that note! It's not like I wanted this to happen in the first place! Anyway, another thanks goes out to all of you! READ THE NOTE!

**YOU MUST READ THIS NOTE:** Due to a certain evil father who will not fix a malfunctioning computer that he gave to me along with midterm exams, I will not be able to update for at least three weeks. Unfortunately, as you may have figured, this story will be going under hiatus for an unknown period of time. It may even lead to March, but I hope it doesn't come to that. This hideously unstable computer has really lowered my writing time, and therefore updates will be diminished until this stupid thing stops reseting on me. Please enjoy this chapter, and don't give up on updates, because I AM GOING TO FINISH THIS STORY!

* * *

**Chapter 25 – The Retaliation**

"Y-you!"

Meilin had barely heard this curt comment and continued to sip her bubble tea happily. She felt Lei's arm wrap around her shoulders protectively. It made her feel completely blissful when he was around. Her ears ignored the stuttered word that escaped a certain person's mouth as she snuggled closer to her boyfriend. Life just seemed to easy today.

And of course, once life gets easy, it tends to become the opposite in a matter of time.

"I'm here with my girlfriend, Meilin," his delightful voice told the person informatively.

She finally decided to give the conversation a bit more attention and turned slightly. Brown hair? This was a girl Lei was talking to! Who was she! Meilin directed her focus to the face of the woman and found herself facing familiar emerald eyes.

_That's…!_

_That's Sakura!_

The Chinese female sat up straight and gawked at what exactly was happening in front of her. She could practically feel her jaw hitting the floor.

"Sakura!" she squeaked in disbelief.

_No way._ There wasn't a chance in hell that she was going to let Sakura interrupt her date! Oh sure, an apology to her was long overdue, but if that woman was here, there was a high probability that her boyfriend could turn around and go after Sakura. Meilin hadn't even stood a chance against her with Syaoran. His eyes had been on her from the beginning and she'd be damned if she let the cherry blossom steal another one of her guys!

-

The two men had decided to take a leisurely stroll since lunch break had rolled around. Out side they discussed matters such as Syaoran's many thousands of issue and Eriol's love life, which Syaoran flatly ignored.

"Jeez, I'm hungry. Let's get something to eat already," Eriol complained as he stood in line for some fast takeout sushi.

Syaoran sighed. The guy just _had_ to be such a pig. "Whatever."

At least his best friend was finally listening to him. He _needed_to talk about this or he was going to implode and then combust. He would, seriously.

-

The words struck Sakura again. 'Meilin's going out with _Lei?!_' Someone up there _had_to be screwing with her. She didn't think her life could get anymore messed up, but apparently, it could. This was not working out for her. One again the same thought hit her. 'Meilin's going out with_ Lei.'_

_Has the world gone looney?_

She silently prayed that it had and it wasn't just her.

"Um… Hi, Meilin. We haven't had the time to properly greet each other greet each other since I got here a few days ago…" she started quickly, racking her brain for something appropriate to say.

"Yes, you're right…" Meilin replied with a weak and very unconvincing smile. "We haven't. How have you been doing?"

_Not that great…_

"Great! So um… I see you were fortunate enough to have stumbled upon Lei, here," she managed to force out, using all her will power to not use the word 'unfortunate.'

"Oh… Yes, I have,"

Between these words, Lei raised an eyebrow. The awkwardness of this situation was very uncomfortable to all parties. "I'll leave you two alone to get reacquainted."

"Wait! Lei!" Meilin shouted in desperation at her retreating boyfriend.

"It's fine!" the man called back. "There's no need to thank me!"

The two women stood together for a few brief seconds just watching the man walk away from them. He had left them alone with the terrible relationship that had formed because of a one-sided crush.

"So tell me, how do you know Lei?" asked the Tokyo agent, a hint of suspicion and curiosity showing in her voice.

Sakura froze at the question. "I had…a long-term relationship with him a couple of months prior to the time I moved to Kawasaki."

"I see…" was the unsatisfying response.

The round of silence resumed and they were left with an extremely unsettling atmosphere. Sakura just wanted to scream out, tell Meilin every dirty thing she knew about Lei, and she knew _a lot_ of dirty things about Lei. Especially the parts with cheating, freeloading, and stealing money off of people he went out with.

All the horrifying images rushed back and she squeezed her eyes tight. She wanted to make them go away, all the feelings and emotions when she saw him with that woman that fateful night. That had been the night where everything went downward. Her whole life took a major slide south and she was thrown into a not-so-safe sanctuary. Only her home had held comfort, and still she'd felt scarred and betrayed. She'd hidden under the covers for days just waiting for a knight in shining armour to come when Sakura was certain none existed. How could she let the same thing happen to Meilin? It was just too cruel.

"You can't go out with him!" Sakura blurted to her ex-friend without even knowing.

"_Excuse_ me?" Lei's new girlfriend snarled angrily, appearing to be extremely offended. "And why is that? Is it because you want him all to yourself just like Syaoran? _Huh?_ Can't you even _tolerate_ that fact that I _have_ someone now?"

She blinked, processing exactly what happened. Right, she'd accidentally barfed up the 'don't go out with Lei' warning. The woman wasn't all that shocked that Meilin was being so cold towards her. She'd ruined her whole love life, and it wasn't entirely insane to accuse that same person for trying to destroy it again.

"Um… Maybe that sounded wrong. Really, Meilin! I'm trying to help you! Lei is a horrible person!" the brunette tried again. She _had_ to get through.

It didn't appear to be working at all. The Chinese female's eyes were lit up with fury, a frown and a glare accompanying them. Sakura could tell then that Meilin didn't believe a word she said. This was going to be disastrous.

"I can't believe you, Sakura! You already have Syaoran, and now you going so low as to try and taint Lei's reputation just to get him for yourself?! You're despicable!" she screamed in full-out rage. Heads turned their way, but the two women ceased to care about the rest of the world.

"Call me what you want! You have to get away from Lei!"

"Get_away_ from me, you slut!"

With this, Meilin whirled and stormed off to find her boyfriend who'd abandoned her with the cherry blossom. Sakura was feeling _horrendous_. She was hurting Meilin again, but she _had_ to get that gold-digging gigolo out of Japan!

"Hey, Sakura, look what I bought!" Sayuri chimed as she twirled out of the cutesy shop.

She paid her no attention and dashed from her spot, following after the fuming Meilin. This was something she had to do.

-

"HAHAHAHAHA!" Eriol cackled maniacally at his sushi nine rolls of sushi. He grinned evilly and stared at his food. "I'm going to eat you now, and there's nothing you can do about it!"

The man with glasses proceeded to laugh like a villain once again while Syaoran simply rolled his eyes. Yes, he best friend was _definitely_ making him feel better. He grumbled a few insults under his breath, tempted to say them louder so that the navy-haired man could hear him. Indeed this was a good day.

"Hmm? What'd you say, Syaoran?"

He crossed his arms and scowled. "Nothing."

"Eh? Okay."

The answer seemed to sate the hungry man as he munched on his lunch in the middle of the streets. While Eriol made sounds of delight, Syaoran was frowning a deep, wrinkly frown of displeasure. The street was crowded and the amber-eyed man did not enjoy being pushed around by a random bunch of people. Another person curtly brushed passed his shoulder, smashing him into Eriol, which led the happy male's meal to fall to the ground.

Eriol was speechless when he saw his now dirt covered sushi being kicked around by the citizens of Tokyo. Syaoran flinched when he the eyes of his best buddy began to look as if they were on fire. The devastated man grabbed the rude person by the shoulder and pulled him back.

"Who the heck do you think you are?" he shouted, a growl coming up the back of his throat.

The man appeared to have light green eyes and dyed blonde hair. He spun around to face the person who had grabbed at him and threw a sharp look. "Don't touch me, you stupid low-life."

The Tokyo agent looked like he was going to explode now. Seriously, was he actually that hungry?

_Dang it, focus!_

"Eriol, just forget about him. He's not worth it," Syaoran placated the wrathful human, taking a hold of his arm and pulling him back lightly.

He did stop and merely settled on glaring for a bit, but the other participant continued to provoke the starving male.

"Oh? You two ladies are too scared to stand up for yourselves? Then I suppose I'll just leave," the arrogant prick replied airily, waving dismissively.

Even Syaoran was now beginning to lose his temper. This guy just wouldn't leave them alone! "Don't test my patience," he growled, his eyes narrowing as he gritted his teeth.

However, Eriol wasn't as calm. "WHAT DID YOU CALL ME?!"

"A lady, dear maiden."

Before the navy-haired man could exert an extremely loud retort from his mouth, the Chinese male retaliated with, "Then I don't suppose you've looked in a mirror lately, oh madam."

Finally,_finally_, their enemy started to take on a pissed off expression. Syaoran had always been talented at comebacks and using insults against people proved to be very useful at dire times like these. This situation was proving to turn out to be a very bad lunch. There was no question about it. He had this gut feeling he was going to do something ghastly.

"You're quite the confident one, aren't you?" the now flushed mystery man asked rhetorically.

"Care to bet on that?" he challenged.

"You're on."

-

Haku's chin was placed on his hand, leaning in boredom over a sofa in the Tokyo Agency's lobby. The day was really sucking for him, and when he meant it was sucking, it was _really_ sucking. It sucked so much it wasn't even funny. He was constantly thinking about how he was rejected by Sakura the other day—and it was sucking to think about it. He didn't _want_ to think about it, yet it was there to think about anyway, and that sucked. Thinking about it only resulted in a lot of depressing feelings, after all, which ultimately sucked. Also, there was no one else around to stop him from thinking about it, and that sucked too.

The dirty blonde pushed the sorrowful thoughts of the refusal away and allowed himself to wonder where the heck in the world his co-workers were. It wasn't like them to just leave him here all by himself! Honestly, _everyone_ who was fine to hang around were just _gone_ or something. There was no doubt about it, this day sucked.

"_Good afternoon_, Haku," purred Rei not so seductively as she stroked his arm intimately.

_OH DEAR GOD!_

_SHE'S BORED AND I'M THE ONLY ONE AROUND!_

"Uhm… Yeah…" he croaked out awkwardly. Haku jolted off his seat and headed towards the door in fright. "I'll see you later!"

-

Sakura finally stopped running when she reached a crowd full of people where Meilin had disappeared. She briefly wondered what was happening there to have so many people gather around. Curiously, she pushed passed several bodies and eventually penetrated the whole side to get to the middle.

"Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight!" the barbaric humans chanted eagerly.

She reached it just in time to see Syaoran nail Lei straight on the left cheek with a powerful punch. Inside, she was dancing and screaming with joy, but outside, she was very confused. What had happened? The cherry blossom realized that _this was_ the place Meilin went when she saw the Chinese girl rush over to her injured boyfriend.

"Syaoran! Don't touch my boyfriend!" she shrieked and consoled the wounded man.

"Boyfriend?" the two guys asked in unison, raising their eyebrows simultaneously. They looked at each other and then back at the other two. "You've got to be kidding me."

She gaped at them, clearly offended, but glaring nonetheless. "What happened here, Lei?"

"Never mind them, Meilin. Let's just get out of here," he spat out gruffly, getting to his feet.

"Lei, what did you do?" asked Sakura as she stepped next to Syaoran and Eriol. Only he could have caused this situation. If he had done_anything_ to her friends, she would seriously give him a Sakaki beating.

"Don't accuse my boyfriend of anything!" retorted Meilin with a sharp look.

She didn't even regard the black-haired woman. "Just because you're my ex, doesn't mean you can harass my friends,"

"Ex?!" Syaoran exclaimed in disbelief, a giant phoney flame surrounding him, which was completely inconspicuous to Sakura.

Eriol rolled his eyes and Lei snickered. "Why would I want to harass you stupid ass friends? You're just saying that because you're obviously not over losing me."

That was the last straw. He made it sound like she was a dog who was begging at his feet to have him take her back. Her vision went fuzzy with fury and her chest burned with anger. She felt so hot that she though steam was going to come out of her ears. "_Not over losing you?_ You were just some dickless jerk who blinded me from seeing all the_ hot_ guys out there! If you think I'm not over a pathetic, gold-digging, horn-dog like you, you've got it all wrong. Let me show you how over you I _am_!"

Sakura had no idea what she was thinking through her rage, but she whirled around and grabbed Syaoran's shirt collar, pulling his face close and pressing her lips to his.

* * *

** Author's Note: **Ah, lovely chapter, was it not? I've cooled down quite a bit now, so don't be afraid! Savor this chapter! I don't know the next time chapter 26'll be posted. I'm not even done it, and it was three quarters done last week! _Sigh..._ I've fallen behind on my chapters because of my stupid computer. Please don't be angry with me...and... 

Please review! (300 had me rolling around on the floor squealing! Thanks everyone!)

I know, the wait's going to be hard, but please bear with me. I don't know if _I_ can even hold back from writing that long... Crap... XD

Please review! (And I shall try my very best to annoy my dad into fixing this half-useless machine! He's kinda scary when I nag him too much... Yes, I do realize I typed that twice. I'll see you in the future!)


	26. Endless Misunderstandings

**Disclaimer:**For the twenty-sixth time, I DON'T own CCS! If you believe I do, I deem you insane.

**Author's Note:** Oh? An update? GASP! Don't worry; you're not imagining it! Hurrah! This story is no long under hiatus! Writer's block will not affect me! I ward it off with my ideas! XD Hoho, and then there is my fixed computer that doesn't reset anymore! WOOT! Okay, so now that this story is up and running again, you may have wait another few weeks before the next update. Why? Well, if you read my profile, then you would understand that my teachers are so very kind and gave me four different projects to do after midterms! _FUN!_ Ugh, 2/4 currently finished. I'm such a bad girl. I've actually been doing most of my writing at school during classes after I've done all my homework or the teacher is lecturing us about something boring. Yes, I AM terrible, but writing is actually more important to me than school, which is not good. Anyway, this note is getting REALLY long, so I'd better shut up.

**To the reviewers:** Ah, guys, seriously, thanks a LOT for everything. You even take time out of your day to read my crappy author notes! XD I couldn't really use my time to respond to you guys this time because I was using it to write this instead, but I'll try and respond to everyone this chapter! I really wish that this was a better chapter for you guys, but unfortunately, the real confrontations begin next chapter. There is going to be _a lot_ of yelling and screaming. THANK YOU AGAIN FOR ALL THE REVIEWS! I LOVE YOU GUYS! NOW READ!

* * *

** Chapter 26 – Endless Misunderstandings**

"She just…ran off?" Tomoyo asked once again when she heard Sayuri's story.

"Yeah, and I don't know why," she replied confusedly, tapping her chin in thought.

Keiko sighed and shook her head. "Great, more drama. Let's go find her."

-

At that moment, there was no going back. The desire was too much for either of them to handle. Syaoran pulled Sakura closer to him, his arms on her waist, and she didn't object at all.

The world slipped away, and nothing else seemed to matter except the only other person there. Syaoran lost all common sense and Sakura's defensive wall crumbled within a second. Though so many people were watching, in their heads, nobody else was surrounding them. To them, the universe only had two people.

_Don't let go…_

That was both of their thoughts.

Syaoran didn't even know half of what was happening because time had moved so fast that all he could register was the fact that the girl he was in love with was kissing him, and he was content with that. He couldn't even recall _why_ she was kissing him, but he ignored the annoying question nipping at the back of his head.

Sakura didn't remember why she was kissing the man either, but she knew she liked it, wanted it, and so desperately _needed_ it. This was what she'd been craving, and she never wanted it to end. _Closer,_ and her arms automatically moved to reinforce this.

Nothing could break them from this world…

"Ooh, nice one, Sakura!"

The two lovers shot apart from each other like the other was on fire, bother short of breath and blushing furiously.

…Except maybe that.

"Sayuri, you ruined their moment," Keiko deadpanned from nearby, crossing her arms and smirking.

Tomoyo just laughed. "It's okay, they need to get a room!"

"Huh?" said the blushing male dumbly, looking around confusedly while blinking in stupidity.

Fairly disappointed that the moment had ended, Sakura managed to regain her air and will her face back to regular colour. She glanced quickly at Lei and Meilin to see their reactions to what she had done completely on impulse, and then pushed them out of her mind. Sayuri, Keiko, and Tomoyo… How did they find her, and so quickly as well?

"Ugh, no fight? Jeez, what a disgusting waste of time," moaned an adjacent man.

"Yeah, I know! All we got was a gross lip-lock," complained another observing human.

Eriol was fuming. "_What the hell?!_ We didn't _ask_ you to come watch us, so why don't you all just hurry up and leave?!"

"We just thought that—"

"DID YOU NOT HEAR ME? I TOLD YOU TO GET THE _HELL_ OUT OF HERE!"

Terrified at the raging man whom had missed his lunch, the crowd scattered hastily, fearing for their lives.

"Um, Eriol, could you calm down just a teensy bit?" Tomoyo asked nervously with a weak smile.

He instantly complied. "Okay, honey."

Syaoran began a coughing fit, smirking at the couple. "_Whipped,_" he mumbled between feigned coughs.

"Sh-shut up!"

"We're still _here_ you know," Lei hissed angrily, causing Sakura to force herself to stifle a giggle as she remembered his face filled with horror.

"Then go somewhere that's _not_ here, you brainless ass," the amber-eyed male retorted coolly as he rolled his eyes at his own obvious answer.

Both members of the couple looked thoroughly pissed at the opposing people standing in front of them. The two sides glared hard at each other—except Sakura was only glaring at Lei—never letting the look waver. Meilin let out a frustrated breath, giving up, and tugged her boyfriend's arm, dragging him forcefully away from the scene.

Before they had left, however, Lei had shot Sakura a meaningful message.

'You will hurt for this,' 

She'd simply sent a message back, though she was slightly afraid of the threat.

'_And you'll be begging for your balls back in the end.'_

"Uh, we have to head back to the office now," Syaoran told them, scratching his head in silliness after the thick tension had finally been broken. He grabbed a handful of Eriol's haired and pulled his best friend with him. "Later,"

"Ow! Dude! Let me go! I can walk by myself!" were the last of Eriol's protesting cries they heard.

"Hmm, and what will we do now?" the Daidouji asked thoughtfully.

"Shall we go back to my house? We can figure out what to do from there," Sakura suggested, happy to have a break from all this chaos.

"Hn," Keiko agreed.

"Keikii, 'hn' isn't a word!" Sayuri argued, yellow eyes shining in determination. The cherry blossom knew that she wanted to win this fight.

"I know it's not," replied the ice queen. "It's more of a grunt,"

The brunette suddenly lost the look of fortitude and put on the face of bewilderment. "Um… Okay…"

"…"

"…"

"Wanna go?"

"Yes,"

-

Sakura was insanely glad that Sakaki and Kamiya had unanimously agreed to let the girls have another day off. Suddenly, it felt just like before, where she was completely cornered and whichever direction she decided to go, the outcome would always be negative. Mixed thoughts clouded her mind like a haze she'd never see through. There was no way out, no escape, and in the end, someone would get hurt. She knew they would, and because of her as well. Bad fortune in life was inevitable—especially in her life.

_But good fortune exists too…_

The brunette sighed loudly, oblivious to the worried glances her friends sent her as her thoughts drifted to _him._ Now that Sakura thought about it, it was _him_ who was actually the cause of _everything_that shouldn't have happened, just because he refused to go out with Meilin. She was more of the…third wheel except she hadn't been attracted to him at all. At present, she conceded rather stubbornly to herself, the cherry blossom did feel something for him. However, that feeling would be ignored forever if anything would fall into place properly.

…Or possibly not. Sakura felt seriously embarrassed for impulsively grabbing the object of several females' desires and kissing him like that. Nevertheless, it was one of the most magical moments in her life, along with the time they'd kissed in the hall of Tokyo Agency. Sure, the following event was mildly disturbing, but she could always block things out. If embarrassment was all she received, then her non-thought out decision had been worth it.

The first time their lips met had been on Christmas Eve. It was the strangest feeling ever, like bittersweet chocolate and better. The situation had been so bad, yet that time had been pure bliss. Anyway, she hated thinking about it.

"Sakura, watch out!"

"Wha—Ow!" the emerald-eyed female shouted in astonishment as she smashed into a hard, solid object, then proceeded to fall on her butt. Her head snapped up, ready to snap at her attacker, which she found, much to her humiliation, was actually the front door of her own house. "Um…"

"You okay?" Tomoyo questioned slowly.

"Heh, heh, yeah…" she answered timidly, mentally wondering how they'd gotten here so fast. How long had she been thinking…?

"What were you thinking about?" asked Keiko in a tone Sakura didn't quite fully comprehend.

"Huh? Think?"

"Sakura, don't play dumb with us! We all know you were thinking about _him!_" Sayuri teased in a matter-of-factly type of voice.

Instantly, she flushed red and turned on defence mode. "I-I…! Look, can we just go in and watch a movie or something? Please?"

"OOH! I WANNA WATCH A MOVIE!"

"Fine, jeez, just shut up already,"

"Aw, Keikii's such a meanie-head!"

"Whatever, stupid,"

"Hey, no! You're stupider than me!"

"Obviously not. You're much stupider than me,"

"Yeah? Well, you're the stupidestest!"

The brunette giggled as the door clicked open.

"Sayuri, sometimes I wish you had better brain cells."

"Huh? But I like my brain cells!"

"…"

-

Meilin was storming defiantly through the agency, dragging her good-looking boyfriend along with her. She was so frustrated with _everything_; Lei being Sakura's ex, Syaoran kissing Sakura (or vice-versa), and even that disappearing act that the objects in her wallet were playing on her!

The Chinese female stomped her foot and stopped abruptly, causing Lei to nearly crash into her. She jerked her hand away from his and let out an irritated groan.

"Why can't that slut just leave us alone?" she screamed in fury, slamming her fist against the wall, leaving a minor dent from utilizing such force. "You know, she really _is_ jealous because she keeps saying bad things about you!"

"What kind of bad things?" Lei demanded sharply, although his odd behaviour appeared to go unnoticed to the angry female.

"Who cares? All that's important is that you and I love each other, and that that witch doesn't ruin our relationship!"

"That's right, but why are you so mad, darling?"

"I just—I just can't believe she actually kissed him!"

"Why does it matter?"

"I used to have feeling for him, for Syaoran Li, but Sakura destroyed it_all_ and stole him from me! She _kissed_ Syaoran just to rub it in!" Meilin spat, spite laced through every word.

_Sakura gets everything! _

_It's never fair for me!_

Rage-filled tears filled her eyes as she hit the wall again, her fist clenched even tighter than before.

"Hey… You've got me, remember?" consoled the soothing, melodic voice behind her. Meilin closed her eyes and let the water rush while her favourite pair of strong arms wrapped around her from behind.

"Lei… I love you," she whispered sincerely, grabbing one of his hands to hold.

"And I you, forever,"

-

Finally Syaoran roused from his sleep. He rubbed his eyes wearily and realized he'd fallen asleep on the job, not that it really mattered. The dream he'd had was of more concern to him.

When Sakura had kissed him earlier, it was all he could think about. The delightful feeling he had when her soft, pink lips were upon his own was overwhelming and one of the things he most desired, but now, during sleep, reality hit him. In this dream, the beautiful woman he was so infatuated with stood within a field of flowers, a tree of sakura behind her. She'd glanced at her watch, then looked around as if expecting someone to come. Syaoran had approached her in his dreams, but as soon as he'd greeted her, he found that in this world, he was invisible, as no reaction had come.

In his own world of unconsciousness, he had wondered whom Sakura was waiting for. Her face, as he remembered, had been one of worry. Maybe she was waiting for him? Hopefully she was, but how could he get to her in this state of invisibility?

Suddenly, the mood completely changed. She'd jumped optimistically in her white, silk dress, waving at a mysterious figure in the distance. Instinctively, Syaoran turned. Who could this person be?

He had put a hand through his brown hair, squinting to try and find who it was, but failed. Nearer the figure came, and the shadows had begun to clear away. _Who was this person Sakura was so desperately waiting for?__Who was this person who was making her so happy by just coming?_ He _had_ to know.

…Syaoran had seen him clearly.

_HIM._

He hated himself for even getting his hopes up. He'd even _let_ her kiss him when _he_ was around.

It was her boyfriend—Sakura's boyfriend.

_You idiot…_

And he was. She was with… that Haku dude. The only reason for that kiss was to prove to her ex that she was over him.

So he was the replacement because _that__guy_ wasn't around.

Syaoran now felt very used and hurt. He'd really thought that they had a chance together, but was only deluding the truth. He knew Sakura wasn't a bad person—in fact, she was the nicest person he knew—and that she probably hadn't meant to hurt him.

_It's not her fault…_

_She only needed help, and I provided it._

He sighed in pure misery. Bad things so _did_ happen to good people.

-

"No! You can't leave me, Ayame!"

"I'm… I'm sorry, Tackey, I just don't love you!"

Despite Sakura's kind personality and innocent exterior, she was just _not_ this type of girl. Verbal sparring she could do all day, shopping she could do in her sleep, but watching chick flicks was just _not_ her thing.

"Look me in the eye and tell me that,"

_SO BORING._ It was such a cliché story. Girl hates boy, boy likes girl, boy charms girl, but girl promises friend that she'll help friend confess love to boy although girl has feelings for boy.

"This is such an original story!" Sayuri squealed in excitement, apparently thinking the exact opposite of Sakura.

Tomoyo snickered. "Oh really? I think I've seen something like this before," she commented aloud, directing it indirectly at Sakura.

The cherry blossom said nothing, and only sank deeper into her sofa, scowling. Great, now she was being teased.

"Can you do it? Can you actually say that to me and honestly mean it?"

"T-Tackey, please, just let me go!"

"Not until I hear the truth,"

Sakura mentally rolled her eyes. This girl was so stupid. Why didn't she just admit it and get it over with? She was just hurting herself more.

"I don't… I don't… I-I can't! I can't say it!" wailed Ayame, the female from the movie. Tears poured from her eyes as she fell to her knees overdramatically.

Tackey, the male, knelt in front of her and gathered the sobbing girl in his arms. "It's okay, you don't have to run anymore. You don't have to run…from _us_ anymore."

Ayame looked up, tears sparking in her eyes. Their lips were about to touch when…

**DING! DONG!**

_Lucky!_

Sakura grinned in delight and darted to the front door. Saved by the bell! That cheesy scene was slowly murdering her, and if she'd seen anymore, she was certain she would've hurled.

However, when she opened the door, she felt she'd rather have watched the movie instead of facing this problem.

There was Haku, standing in the doorway, with a look of indifference on his face. It was then, a terrible feeling built up within her.

_Am I… Am I… scared?_

"H-Haku—"

"I know," he cut her off curtly, "about that kiss you shared with him,"

* * *

**Author's Note:** HOLY COW! It's Haku! What's going to happen next chapter? Well, find out next chapter, which has an unknown update date! Hehe, sorry. XD Anyway, hope you enjoyed it! By the way, there is now a poll in my profile that connects with this story. It'd be nice if you voted! ;D Haha, but you don't have to if you don't want to!

Please review! (And because I've been away so long, I've decided to respond with a personal message and a sneak preview to the next chapter!)


	27. Confrontations

**Disclaimer:** Shoo, lawyers! I don't own CCS, nor do I own the characters in it! Too bad! No suing for you!

**Author's Note:** Whew, it's been a while, everyone. Sorry for the wait. I'm SO HAPPY that it's Spring Break. I can FINALLY do a little relaxation! I did pretty well on my report card too! 6 As and 2 Bs (would've been 7 As If I'd gotten 0.2 percent higher in French XD), which means, WRITING IS MY TOP PRIORITY AGAIN! WOOT! Unfortunately, while this story's almost finished, I'm getting uber lazy... and I think I lost quite a few readers and reviewers when I was on hiatus, so that kinda made my motivation hinder. HOWEVER, YOU WILL NEVER GET RID OF ME! MWAHAHAHA! _Cough...Cough..._

I have no idea how long it's going to take to produce chapter 28. I've been very unfocused on this story lately. My mind's always off on some other topic, thinking up ideas for new stories, so don't expect a fast update. 

**To the reviewers:** Guys, you are totally awesome. I feel bad for not typing faster for you, but I sort of have a cold right now, and my nose is leaking like a tap... XD Yes, you didn't need to know that. THANK YOU FOR THE REVIEWS! I hope you all got the response I sent you. : ) Enjoy!

* * *

**Chapter 27 – Confrontations**

She swallowed nervously, but the lump in her throat wouldn't disappear. Was this supposed to be revenge? She didn't mean to hurt him, not in the least. Did that matter at all?

"Y-you… heard… about it?" Sakura inquired in fear. How was he going to react? He was frighteningly calm—too calm for her liking.

"Yes," responded, completely monotone.

"Are you…mad?"

"Of course…" he responded slowly, voice full of pain. 

"I see…"

"You can't expect me not to be. I mean, you turned _me_ down and then…" Haku replied, trailing off as he looked to the ground.

She swallowed again, and that lump seemed to be persistent still. "I'm…so—"

"Don't say it!" he cut her off, head snapping up quickly, surprising Sakura as she took an involuntary step back. "It's not your fault," His blue eyes bore into hers sternly.

"What—What do you mean?" the brunette stammered in confusion, becoming even more confused by his sudden mood-swing.

"You have to stop apologizing over stupid things," he explained, staring at her directly in the eye. Sakura opened her mouth to speak, but he didn't let her. "Don't talk. You just need to listen right now. Lately, I know I've been acting like a jerk, but I couldn't control my jealousy when I saw your gaze… on him and not me. I couldn't handle it, but _none_ of this is your fault. They're your feelings, and it's not like you change force them to change, so you can't take the blame for that. Look how _I_ acted because of my feelings… Jeez… I must sound so stupid…"

"You don't sound even remotely stupid," informed a voice that had just joined the conversation. "That makes so much sense that even I can understand it,"

"Sayuri…?" Sakura yelped in astonishment.

Sure enough, there was the cute yellow-eyed female, standing outside the living room where they'd been watching the movie. Her expression was unusually serious for the hyperactive girl. Keiko and Tomoyo then showed up behind her, glancing curiously.

"S-Sayuri…" Haku choked in shame.

"You can't control your feelings toward another, and you can't blame someone for having them," she said in sincerity. 

"You're right… Sayuri…" he added after a short moment. Shortly afterwards, he turned his gaze back at Sakura. "I'm really sorry…for being such a prick and a jealous pig. I know that you'll never feel the same for me as the way I feel for you, but I hope we can still be friends—even after all that crap I caused. I _am_ really sorry…"

Sakura smiled at him lightly. "Of course I forgive you," she said truthfully. "You just said so yourself. People can't change their feelings even if they wanted to."

"Thank you," he replied, returning the smile. "And… S…Sayuri…"

"A-ah…" she squeaked in shock, perking up immediately and blinking a few times.

"I came here to apologize to Sakura…even though I knew that the person I owed the biggest apology to… was you…" Haku admitted, his face grim.

No one said a thing for about half a minute. The room was filled with tension and Sakura could sense Haku's shame floating in the air. She wasn't exactly certain what he'd done to Sayuri, but she knew it wasn't her business. Besides, Haku wasn't a bad person at all. He simply let his heart control his actions at full force, and absolutely no thought had been put into his deeds. 

"Well," Keiko began with an annoyed sigh, "if you came to apologize, hurry up and do it."

He nodded slowly, nervous about saying those words, and then took a deep breath. "The truth is, Sayuri, that I didn't want to apologize because I was too afraid of facing you. I… know I said something that really hurt your feelings, and I all I can do is beg for your forgiveness. I'm sorry… I really am so…sorry," 

Apparently Haku wasn't about to get the answer he desired, as the air-headed female didn't say a word. However, he didn't look like he was through with talking yet.

"I don't deserve your forgiveness, because all you've done is care for me while I just blew it off, just like your feelings. I don't even deserve to be standing in front of you, or deserve to say your name. I'm scum, or probably worse, and it's okay with me if don't forgive me because I know I made you cry, and nobody should ever make you do that. I just want you to know that I'm sorry," 

And with that, he walked back to the door and began to turn the handle.

"Wait," whispered Sayuri, so softly that it was barely heard, but it stopped Haku. "Don't… go…"

He didn't, but he didn't turn back either.

"What you said… It really hurt me. You don't know how many people have called me that over the years, but it still hurts, and to have _you_ say that to me hurt more than anything," she sobbed quietly. She was crying now, just like he'd caused her to do before. "I can't forgive you… I _won't_ forgive you… At least… not yet."

Sakura saw him grip the door's knob tighter, making his knuckles turn white. Was it right for them to be here? Should they be in this room seeing this?

"I want to be friends with you still… and maybe more one day if it ever happens. I think… maybe I can forgive you… in time," she spoke lightly. 

Finally, he looked at her, letting his crushing grip on the handle go. "Sayuri… Thank you. I won't let you down,"

She nodded with a small smile as she wiped the tears from her eyes. "I hope so, and make sure you buy me some ice-cream," she demanded, reverting back to her regular self.

"I'll keep that in mind," Haku chuckled, letting her smile light up the room.

-

Sakaki was expecting all her underlings to be hard at work today. Tomoyo had had an extra day off yesterday to help out with whatever sort of drama had gone on over the last couple of days, but she'd sternly told them that they were coming to work the following day, and that was that. Honestly, it was never a dull day with her workers. 

She was certain her plan for Syaoran and Sakura had been working, as they'd become noticeably more cheerful within the week until today. The boss hadn't seen Sakura yet, but Syaoran was already on his first break before lunch and was moping around in the lunchroom. She knew his signs of depression since he'd been showing them all the time when Sakura was in Kawasaki. Right now, he was displaying three of them. In this room, you could only see two of them—constant sighs and blank stares out the window—but Sakaki knew that he'd been sleeping in his office during work again as well. That was something she needed to sort of spy on him to notice, but she'd found it. The option of hurting him for not working had been considered, but as an intelligent woman, she figured it would only make things worse—well, for him at least. (Sakaki was quite content with the idea herself.)

"Oi, Sakaki-sama, you're not cheating on your boyfriend already, are you?" Syaoran inquired lazily as he inspected the morning paper.

"Eh?" she answered smartly, caught off guard by the question, as she had been lost in thought. She didn't even think he could see her from over there. 

"I know I'm good-looking and all, but spying? You can hit on me if you want, but I think you should break up with your boyfriend first," he suggested, sounding extremely full of himself. 

"_What!_" she shouted, catching on finally.

"I mean, you could, but it would never workout between you and—"

"DO YOU WANT A BEATING?"

"S-sorry, Sakaki-sama!" he choked in fear.

The black-haired female grinned at his paranoia and smacked the back of he head anyway. Syaoran winced and rubbed the back of his aching head, scowling at his powerful boss.

"Don't mock me," she warned him with a smirk.

"It's a bit late for _that_ advice," the amber-eyed male muttered gruffly.

She rolled her eyes. Sometimes he could be so stupid. "Why are you here without the insecure idiot?"

"He's over that now, and Eriol didn't want to take his break so early," he grumbled, as if sulking that his friend stubbornly rejected the request to take his break so early on.

"Ha! So you're moping because of that?"

"No way! And I'm not moping!"

"That's not what I see,"

"I don't mope,"

"Then you're sulking. Who is it this time? Sakura again?"

For a spilt second, Syaoran's wall wavered, but did not stay that way for long. "_It's nothing!_ And it's none of your business!"

Sakaki placed her hands on her hips, facing him and standing at his side as she leaned forward in arrogance. "I didn't _say_ it was anything. I only said you were moping, or sulking, but I guess there _is_ something then."

"Ugh! Will you _please_ leave me alone?" he breathed stressfully. He groaned and slammed his head on the table, as if it would hide him from the rest of the world.

"No," she countered relentlessly. "You're my employee, and it's my job to know what's going on here,"

"Fine then," he snarled, "I'll leave. My break's almost over anyway,"

Raging, Syaoran stormed out the room, leaving a nosy boss standing there alone. An angry noise flew from her mouth and a frown came upon her face. Her stupid employees were so impossible! They would never let her help them!

_Jeez, why do I bother?_

_Oh, right, we want Sakura back here._

_I wish these dumb asses were more…well, less like dumb asses._

"Cheating on me already?"

She rolled her eyes. Men _were_ all the same. "Maybe that's what I _should_ be doing," Sakaki retorted, already aware of who it was.

"You wouldn't. You are simply to enticed by me to do otherwise," her boyfriend concluded wisely.

A snicker. "Don't be so sure,"

"You are stressed," Arms around her now. "What might the reason for this be?"

"I don't think the plan's working," Sakaki admitted as she turned to look at him in the eyes, his beautiful red eyes. 

"Then perhaps some reinforcement is required," Kamiya suggested, his forehead now resting on her own. She smiled in delight.

"Very much required," whispered the red-eyed female. 

Things were not working out the way she planned it at all. With Kamiya's help, everything should've fallen into place, but the stupid morons kept messing it up! She didn't understand why they had to be so_complicated_ all the time. A long, hard beating to their foolishly processing brains would do them some good, but probably some brain damage as well, which would not actually be that helpful to the problem. Well, no matter what, _even if she had to play matchmaker_, she was going to get Syaoran and Sakura together or die trying. 

"Sakaki, you're thinking of something evil, are you not?" predicted the intelligent Kamiya chuckling at her antics. 

"Tch, you're the evil one," she accused, sticking out her tongue playfully. Suddenly, she pushed him away and grinned demonically. "Don't touch without permission, _pervert!_"

He blinked, amused and very stunned. "Did we not—"

"You speak like a butler," she chided as she waggled her finger at him teasingly. "I don't kiss butlers."

"Hey, I want a kiss," he demanded, pouting slightly. Finally Kamiya didn't sound so proper.

"Are you _pouting?_" she shouted in shock, laughing at the irony. Kamiya didn't think it was at all. Sakaki proceeded to roll her eyes again. "Alright, alright. If you're actually desperate enough to resort to _that_ kind of thing, then I'll give you a kiss."

That said, she went on her tipped-toes and pecked him lightly on the lips then backed away.

"That's it?" he asked in disappointment. She nodded firmly, her ponytail bobbing softly, before turning and leaving the room, proud of herself. Normally he would've said, "Such little charity?"

"It was a kiss," Sakaki confirmed tauntingly. "So now that you have what you want, you don't get another for three weeks. Now let's go plan!"

The look of complete horror was priceless.

"I was kidding!" she laughed hysterically. "But if you don't hurry and get your ass over here, I _will_ go through with it."

He was by her side within seconds. 

-

"Oh, I've got to use the bathroom," Meilin told him as she opened the door to her office. "Can you wait here until I get back?"

"Not a problem," Lei assured his girlfriend, stepping into the room with ease. 

She smiled in appreciation. "Thanks, Lei. Hold this, will you?" Meilin handed him her purse, which he accepted gracefully. "Alright then, I'll be back soon!" She waved and went on her way.

Grasping her purse in one hand, the hair-dyed man closed the door behind him and unzipped the zipper on the white bag. He rummaged through its contents until he finally found the treasure he was seeking. A grin grazed his lips as he pulled out a light-blue wallet. Lei's face lit up as he unclipped the button at the top and opened it in glee.

* * *

**Author's Note: **Anyone else find that scene with Sakaki and Kamiya very insignificant? XD Yeah, I know. It really didn't need to be put there, but I couldn't resist. Sakaki will be playing a large part in the last chapter, so we can't forget about her! Oh, and that poll in my profile's still up, so feel free to vote! Thank you for reading!

Now please review! (I always look forward to feedback!) 


	28. Violent Tendencies

**Disclaimer:** Hey, I never claimed to own CCS. Whadaya think this site's for?

**Author's Note:** Hey all! It's been a while, hasn't it? I feel a bit crappy updating this chapter when it's _way_ shorter than all the other ones. It's not even 2000 words, but hopefully it'll suffice for now. Besides, I'm not going to lie, but I was pretty unmotivated with the lack of feedback for the last chapter. I was planning to write faster, but a huge social studies project came up and it's been occupying me for the last two weeks, so, yeah. Anyway, hopefully this chapter's okay. I even edited it for you!

**To the reviewers:** THANK YOU! My loyalist reviewers, you guys are the coolest! I feel terrible for handing you guys this short chapter, but it can't be helped. Chapter 29 and 30 will help balance it out though. Those two chapters are _seriously_ longer, especially chapter 30. That thing's got to be _at least_ 5000 words. I hope you enjoy this!

* * *

**Chapter 28 – Violent Tendencies**

Syaoran was currently very annoyed with his boss. What right did she have to meddle in his life like that? Honestly, all he'd wanted was a bit of peace and quiet, but _nooo._ Sakaki had just _had_ to come and accuse him of sulking and moping of which he was doing neither. It was so frustrating!

Okay… Well, maybe he was moping just a _teensy_ bit, and maybe he was just a _little_ bit sulky, but Sakura and her boyfriend wouldn't leave his head! If he could, he blast that stupid picture to oblivion and bring it back just so he could condemn it again! However, the image just wouldn't leave him alone! It felt like someone had shot him in the back and the embedded bullet was unable to be removed from his spine!

_She chose him over me, and that's all that matters._

Or so he told himself, because apparently it _did_ matter to him. It was all he could think about and it possessed him. Syaoran was downright _miserable._ He couldn't think straight with all that crap crowding his brain. Strangely enough, it even felt better when Sakura had been in Kawasaki and when Eriol and Tomoyo's relationship had been damaged beyond repair (well, almost). Right now, he was tearing himself apart with this feeling, and the feeling itself was eating him alive!

"I _hate_ this," Syaoran mutter in frustration.

He wanted so much to just _be_ with her, but…

It could never be.

Everything that happened right between them ended up somehow being wrong. The Chinese male knew that at some point in time, Sakura _must've_ at least felt _something_ for him, but it was now undoubtedly gone. The woman he loved had chosen her path and he simply couldn't move on. He didn't _want_ to move on. Nobody on Earth could replace Sakura. She was everything he wanted and more, but then she was everything he hated as well—the perfect balance.

As long as she's happy…

_It'll be worth the pain._

Finally he'd reached his office and was about to go in when he was stopped.

"Hey, Syaoran!"

"What's up, cutie?"

Confused, he spun on his heel only to find two females peering up at him, each wielding a haughty smirk. Syaoran raised an eyebrow at the two intruders. "Mizuki, who is she and what are you guys doing?"

Mizuki fluttered her fake eyelashes rapidly and gestured to the other girl. "Oh, this is a new friend of mine. Her name is Rei,"

"_Very_ good to make your acquaintance," she purred seductively, although she sounded more like a dying cow to him.

_Great. __**More**__ sluts._

"Uh… Likewise. Now go away," Syaoran commanded with a chilling glare.

"Won't you even give us a _chance?_" asked Mizuki, feigning innocence so disgusting that Syaoran just about ready to commit homicide.

"_NO!_ Leave me the hell alone already!" he demanded angrily. It was unfortunate that he didn't have a knife at the moment.

"Why not? You gave Sakura a shot!" Rei challenged hastily.

He froze at her words. He didn't want to think about that anymore, but they just insisted on repeatedly bringing it up. Did they think that they could replace Sakura or something? They were only a couple of sluts that wanted a hot guy and a good night. The two of them could _never_ compare to the cherry blossom.

"Do not _ever_ compare yourselves to Sakura. She's _way_ better at _everything_ than you will ever be," he told them cleanly. "Now quit bothering me and don't talk to me again unless it's work related. Goodbye,"

Both seemed to be fairly offended at his comment, but that was exactly what he wanted. One more glare at them was what he offered last before slamming the door in their faces.

-

It was _SO INCREDIBLY BORING._ A very, very slow tour through the manufacturing site had been in order, and Sakura really wanted to get away. She'd seen all of this before, and even had some friends that worked the needle, but she hated being in the place for a long period of time. Keiko seemed just as unhappy to be there, but Sayuri was adamant in her exuberant state of mind and it looked contagious as Haku began to sound a little psyched to be there as well.

_Ugh, I think I'll just go visit Tomoyo._

"Um, I'm going to the washroom," Sakura announced quickly as she shot a meaningful look at Keiko.

"Same here," the ice queen said, catching the message.

Sayuri didn't seem to notice. "WOW! WHAT KIND OF SEWING MACHINE IS THAT?"

"It's very…elaborate," Haku observed, scratching his chin thoughtfully.

"I know! Isn't it great?" exclaimed their guide, completely ignoring the two bored girls.

"Eh…" Sakura said, dumbfounded at the lack of response. "Let's just go."

Keiko nodded and they made a hasty escape. An empty hall was reached with only a door and the brunette pulled it open. _Finally_ they'd gotten out of that Hell Hole! It was frightful that the other two employees were thoroughly enjoying themselves.

"That was a _nightmare_," she groaned, leaning on the wall for support.

"I'll murder Kamiya-sama for abandoning us there," the blue-eyed female hissed violently.

"Let me castrate him first,"

"Agreed,"

Once they were finished discussing their murderous ideas, they headed off to Tomoyo's office seeking consolation for their long morning torture. Things had gone quite smoothly ever since, well, ever since Haku had apologized for being a stubborn idiot. Today was coming out as a pretty good day, besides the killer-tour.

"Tch, so we meet again, Sakura-chan,"

Never mind. It was definitely a bad day.

"Lei, quit _bothering_ me already," she retorted in annoyance. _WHY WASN'T HE DISAPPEARING?_ He was practically the most revolting and irritating specimen in the history of the planet!

"I'm hurt that you don't want me here," Lei lied with an arrogant smirk.

_I'LL FREAKING DECAPITATE YOU!_

"Jackass," Sakura spat, glaring at him heatedly.

"Hmph, your comebacks are getting rusty, my sweet Cherry Blossom," the man snorted.

"And that metal stick up your ass has travelled further north, I see," she countered.

Keiko rolled up her sleeves menacingly. "Do you want me to hurt him?"

"Yes please," Sakura answered without hesitation, "a lot,"

-

"What's so great about her anyway?" asked Mizuki aloud, though it was a rhetorical question.

"Nothing. All Sakura ever wants to do is dig her dirty little claws into every good-looking guy's back," Rei answered bitterly. She kicked the wall, but then ended up regretting it tremendously when she realized that she'd broken a toenail—not to mention that it _really_ hurt.

"Is that what she did in Kawasaki?" the other girl inquired, now curious to know the circumstances in which Rei had gotten her view on the Cherry Blossom.

"Something like that," she replied with much effort, biting her lip to stop from screaming out at the seething pain in her toe.

Mizuki nodded absently. Now she was trying to think of ways to get Syaoran to stop thinking about Sakura. She would also have to get rid of the Kawasaki secretary. She wanted the boy to herself, and only herself. Suddenly, something clicked in her mind. "Oh, Rei, didn't you still have some paperwork left in Sakaki's office to finish?"

The slutty woman's eyes widened and she blanched visibly.

Mizuki smirked. "That's what I thought."

-

Their tour guide spun around and grandly held his arms open. "And that's the end of our tour! Wasn't it fun?"

"More than fun!" Sayuri exclaimed sincerely, and one could wonder why the heck it was so fun.

"Yeah! It was great!" agreed the dirty blond, nodding in enthusiasm. "Huh? Where did Sakura and Keiko go?" He wondered to himself what the point of asking the hyper female was. She was normally three times less observant than he was.

"Oh, you didn't notice? They left a while ago, because they were bored," she explained nonchalantly. Pigtails flinging, she bounced around to face the tour guide happily. "But don't mind that, sir! We had a lot of fun! Thanks for your work!"

Well, _normally,_ but perhaps today was just your average abnormal day.

"It was a pleasure meeting you both," he countered, bowing before he walked off.

Haku was still too dumbfounded to scrape his fallen jaw off the ground.

"That was a nice man! Where should we go now? Should we go to the mall again? No… Maybe we could mess up all the work that Rei did as revenge for when she threw up my skirt in public. That could be fun, but I guess Kamiya would probably be a meanie if we did that so… Ah! We could—Haku? Are you alive?"

Apparently enough strength had built up within him to pick his chin up as he snapped back up to attention. "Wha…? Oh, um… How about we go find Sakura and Keiko?" the blue-eyed male suggested out of thin air.

"Nah," she said, shaking her head. "They could be anywhere! It'd be _way_ to hard to find them! Besides, I'm tired of playing hide-and-seek… AH! I KNOW!"

"What is it?"

"_You_," Sayuri declared triumphantly as she poked a finger directly between his eyes, leaning forward, "are going to treat me to as much ice-cream as I want! You promised you would!"

Chuckling slightly, he grinned. "I suppose I did."

-

"Tch, hurt me? Please," the haughty man snickered arrogantly. Lei rolled his eyes at the ceiling, momentarily letting his eyes wander.

A mistake.

Any reluctance that might have been in Keiko was gone. She swiftly stepped forward and nailed her fist into his face, causing Lei more pain than he thought was possible to obtain from a woman without being kicked in the crotch.

He groaned in agony, falling to the floor and clutching his face.

"Lei?"

Meilin, apparently, had just shown up after searching for her boyfriend for a short while. The incapacitated man groaned once again in response to her call and scrambled to his feet, pushing passed his own girlfriend. Keiko stood back next to Sakura.

_**Again.**_

_Why the heck does this keep happening?_

"You hurt him," the Chinese female growled angrily, storming up to the pair. "You freaking _hurt_ him!"

"He deserves it!" Sakura retorted relentlessly. He _did_ deserve it.

"_Shut up!_" screamed Meilin, her face contorted with anger. "_I'm sick and tired of you talking that way! I hate you, you jealous bitch!"_

Sakura felt herself get pushed back as a hard slap crashed down upon her cheek. Surprised, she stumbled back.

"Let's _settle _this," she hissed with a dangerous glare. "Let's settle this _right now._"

* * *

**Author's Note:** Was it okay? I really don't think that this chapter meets standards, but there's a lot more events in chapter 29, so I'll try to update more quickly. That chapter _is_ done after all! ;D Chapter 30 is also halfway done! Thanks for reading!

Please comment (which also means review, because I'm trying to _improve_ my writing. Also, if you spotted any spelling/grammatical errors in the chapter, please tell me. I actually edited this one), and constructive criticism is very appreciated!


	29. Speaking the Truth

**Disclaimer:** Anything that CLAMP owns, I do not. Understand?

**Author's Note:** Yikes! Sorry, everyone! I didn't mean to take this long. Half of the wait was just because I was really lazy, and the other half was that I was trying to finish chapter 30, which is now complete. However, it still needs to be typed up, and that may take a while as it is written in smallish writing on twelve sheets of line paper, single-spaced, double-sided. It will most likely be split into two or three parts.

ALSO, I have tests, a social studies essay to write, and laziness that will just not go away. For these reasons, I hope you understand why the last chapter won't be up very quickly. MAKE SURE TO READ THE A/N AT THE BOTTOM IN ORDER TO FIND OUT ABOUT THE NEXT UPDATE!

**To the reviewers: **Hehe, you guys really make my day. When I see that I get a review, I almost start jumping a squealing. Unfortunately, I often check my email at school, and when I see it, the urge really starts coming on. Anyway, thank you guys VERY, VERY, VERY much. I appreciate the time you take to review VERY, VERY, VERY much. I hope you enjoy the chapter!

(P.S. I apologise again. There is no catfight in this chapter. XD)

* * *

**Chapter 29 – Speaking the Truth**

The next few moments Sakura spend in a daze. Blinking a few times, she tried to process exactly what was just said to her. Her face stung faintly, and it…hurt. It really did. This was…not supposed to happen. Had the situation become worse…? She was only trying to help—even if she couldn't control her temper

"Quit trash talking my boyfriend!" Meilin shouted in complete rage. "You already lost him, so you can't just come waltzing in to try and make me lose him too! It's time for me to set you straight!"

"So… that what you think I'm doing," she breathed in desperation. This was getting out of hand. If Meilin wanted to fight, that meant she didn't believe a single word that came out of her mouth. Still, it couldn't be helped if Meilin would not believe her. She'd spill out truths until she _did_ believe it.

"I _know_ you're scheming to try and get him back!" she snarled dangerously.

"I'd never _want_ him back! He's a cheating, lying bastard!" Sakura shot back without giving a second thought, though she instantly regretted not being able to stop herself. When it came to Lei, insults were just too easy.

"He's _not!_ Lei's better than you would ever deserve!"

"I don't _care_ if I don't deserve him! Nobody should be burdened with an asshole like him!"

"Quit saying weird things like that!" she screamed, apparently frustrated now. Meilin's breathing was heavy from yelling so much. "You've already done enough of your nonsensical preaching! Now shut up!"

"I won't! Not until you understand that you shouldn't be with Lei!"

A pause finally came in their argument as Meilin got in her face again. Sakura was shoved roughly backward and did nothing to retaliate. Had the words come out wrong?

_Oh my God!_

_I really __**do**__ sound like I want him back!_

"Why, huh? Why should I need to understand why I shouldn't be with Lei? I've already figured out _long ago_ why you have reasons for wanting him away from me, but you keep on denying it,"

"He'll cheat on you," Sakura told her, hoping this one wouldn't come back to get her, "and not just that!"

"Maybe he will, if _you_ decide to seduce him," the Chinese female accused coldly.

I really did come back to get her. Dialogue was just not her thing this week.

Suddenly, just as Sakura was opening her mouth, a spectator stepped in. "Listen, you. I don't know why _you_ think you can just get away with calling Sakura a slut, whore, or a seductress, but you most certainly don't get off doing it in front of me,"

Sakura was utterly shocked. She'd _never _seen Keiko stand up for someone else. "Keiko…"

"Excuse me?" scoffed a stunned Meilin.

"You heard me," Keiko replied icily. "You can't call someone as kind as her a bitch, especially when you're the biggest one yourself."

Sakura and Meilin were both wide-eyed and gaping for similar reasons. The Cherry Blossom was stunned that Keiko had defended her, praised her, and insulted Meilin, all in one sentence. It was completely amazing.

"Excuse me?" she repeated in disbelief. Sakura couldn't believe it herself.

"Hmph, you don't understand? You're feelings are so screwed up that you're deluding yourself with lies," Keiko explained.

"You don't—"

"You're unstable and angry, so you're defending yourself from a villain that doesn't exist, though the real one is right behind you," she continued, despite Meilin's irritated protests.

"Shut up! You don't even know me, so shut up!" she yelled covering her ears.

"Ironic, isn't is? That I've known you for only ten minutes and I can comprehend more about you than you know about yourself," the blue-eyed woman commented airily.

"Stop it! You know nothing of what happened either!"

"Maybe so, but I know Sakura, and she's not the person you claim her to be,"

Meanwhile, Sakura observed all of this in amazement. Why Meilin completely lost it, she didn't know, but it was certainly affecting her harshly. Meilin wasn't even _trying_ anymore. She was only attempting to get Keiko to stop talking now, and Sakura was also very bewildered with Keiko. She was much more intelligent and understanding than she ever let on. In a few sentences, she had Meilin flying off the hook! Anything Sakura had said had been totally ineffective! Of course, you could tell she was wiser than Sayuri from the outcome of their friendly arguments, but even Sayuri was just simple-minded! Practically anyone could beat her in a squabble!

"_Stop talking!_" Meilin shrieked desperately. She sounded like a child who was afraid of the dark.

"Is it the only way you can survive?" Keiko asked in a mocking voice. "Blaming others for you bad fortune only bring hatred. The spite only drives you harder to believe in lies and in the end, you're the only loser,"

"Why do you keep talking?" she screeched some more, her voice becoming more and more hoarse.

"Why are you still bearing a grudge about something that was unintentional?" she countered plainly.

"Stop it! You have not idea how I feel!"

Sakura didn't know what to do when Meilin fell limp against the wall and slid down, pressing her hands against her ears while shaking visibly. It was the strangest thing… This had happened in the short span of five minutes? Once Keiko opened her mouth, the world that her ex-friend had believed in had somehow been crushed within a matter of sentences.

"Wha…what?" she wondered aloud, staring at the collapsed female, looking so vulnerable.

"We should go," Keiko said, as if nothing had changed. "She needs space to clear her mind."

Reluctantly, she nodded, her mind filled with greyness and fuzziness. However, her faint nod was contradicting the rest of her body. Every other limb wouldn't move as she glanced the curled up girl in worry. She just couldn't bring herself to leave Meilin like that.

"I-I can't," she told Keiko weakly.

"You're the last person she wants to see right now," she informed her, now pulling lightly on Sakura's arm.

She felt herself move automatically, but her eyes held fast on Meilin. Keiko dragged her along, and Sakura didn't blink until that image was out of sight.

-

Meilin stared at the wall in front of her quietly with her hands clutched to her chest. Finally, she was beginning to calm down. That woman…somehow she knew all of the bad thoughts she'd wanted to push away. Her reaction had been a reflex, absolutely confused at how she was supposed to respond. Meilin didn't even know that she felt that way herself.

Starting towards her office, a thought echoed across the plain in her mind.

"In the end, you're the only loser…"

And it was true. That was how she always felt. She always felt like the person who had nothing, while everyone else prospered. It brought bitter feelings to her heart, like black rain that drenched her in sorrow.

She hated watching everyone else have happiness when she had nothing.

She hated seeing the eyes that were never focused on her.

She hated knowing the man she'd loved was in love with another.

She hated Sakura for it all.

_It's always her and never me._

Everyone loved Sakura.

She hated her for it.

-

"What…exactly did you do to her?" Sakura asked finally. How Keiko had brought Meilin trembling to her knees was beyond her. She really wanted to know, worried that the ice queen had somehow screwed up the girl's mind.

"I read her," she replied vaguely, as if it were the simplest thing in the world.

Meanwhile, Sakura had not idea what she was talking about. "Huh? Read her?"

"Yes," Keiko answered as they continued down the hall to Tomoyo's office, "like a book, but it seems you still don't understand."

The Cherry Blossom nodded.

"I read her emotions. I've been able to do it ever since I can remember," the blue-eyed female explained, waving off Sakura's confusion.

"Care to elaborate?"

"I supposed. Since I was a child, I could tell how people were feeling and who they really were. For example, I could tell that Sayuri liked Haku before she even knew it herself. I knew I hated Rei the first time I looked at her, and I sensed something between Kamiya and Sakaki right when we arrived, but I really didn't think Kamiya-sama would… Yes, well anyway, I also know that you and Syaoran are in love, though I'm not sure what's holding you back… Perhaps it has something to do with that Meilin girl? She seems to have some sort of lingering resentment towards you that is definitely not easily dissolved,"

Sakura once again found herself at a loss for words. "Wow… That's…_amazing._ Except, I don't really—"

"Maybe that's what your mind is saying, but you must listen to your heart."

Was it true? Did she really love Syaoran? He _was_ incredibly attractive—which you'd have to be either blind or insane to not realize—and every time he held her, she felt like melting. Maybe she liked him, but just because she was always think about him when he wasn't around and just because she felt like she'd do anything to be in his warm embrace didn't mean she was in lo—

Oh dear God, yes it did.

-

He ruthlessly rummaged through her desk. He couldn't stand keeping up this charade anymore! She was annoying the hell out of him, and Lei couldn't tolerate it for a second longer. It would be tonight. He would take all he could and run. Meilin was good profit, but there was a limit to his patience too. No one would ever need to know…

Secret cash was what he was searching for. Lei was going to make the most of this opportunity. He tore a drawer from its place and found a key inside before stashing it in his pocket—could be important. A chair was tossed aside as he searched for his prize. Another drawer was pulled open, and deep within it, he spotted something shiny. With a grin, the scheming gigolo pulled out a box with a heavy-duty lock placed upon it. Lei retrieved the key he'd found from the desk drawer from his pocket and slid it into the lock's hole. A perfect fit. A laugh built up in his throat as the key twisted under his tainted fingers. As the cap of the box was lifted, his eyes lit up with glee.

He didn't notice the door know turning slowly.

-

"What…are you doing?" Meilin gasped, quite shocked at the scene before her.

"Haha…yes…" mumbled her boyfriend, grasping a bunch of bills from her secret stash. Meilin couldn't believe her eyes. They had to be lying. They _had_ to be lying.

Her office was a complete mess. Papers were scattered and strewn in random places, her chair was thrown over in a corner, and her drawers had all been pulled out, thoroughly searched, and then tossed to the floor.

Then there was Lei…in the middle of it, stealing her money.

"You…" she choked angrily, though her vision was fuzzy and confusing. Her recovery from Keiko's onslaught of verbal attacks was now very temporary.

Finally, he noticed her. "Oh, sh—"

"Please tell me you didn't do this," she begged him, biting her lip to keep from crying.

"I-I…"

"And tell me you're telling the truth! Please, Lei!"

"…"

"_SAY SOMETHING!_" Meilin screamed, throwing an adjacent stapler at his face. "_YOU DAMN BASTARD! SAY SOMETHING!_"

It appeared as if Lei didn't know _what_ to say, but Meilin was too angry to notice. She'd caught him in the act, and he'd obviously hadn't planned to be.

He winced as the stapler missed its primary target, but still managed to hit his chest. Lei was wracking his brain for an option—a way out, but he couldn't find one.

"Were you the one stealing from me…?" asked the Chinese female with red eyes and ragged breaths. "All this time, the vanishing yen was because of you?"

"Who else?" he replied. Lei would've lied if he could think of one.

"I can't… You… I can't believe it," Meilin sobbed, throwing her face into her hands. "She was right, and I _trusted_ you. I defended you and fought for you, but you were just betraying me."

"Meilin, I'm—"

"Shut up! I loved you, and all you did was hand me lies just to get my money! I don't want your pathetic, insincere apologies!" she hissed, poison present in her voice. "Just…leave my things and disappear."

"I—"

"…Or I'll report you to the police,"

That shut him up immediately. Lei dropped the cash and ran without another word. She would've _murdered_ him had she not been in such an emotional state at the time.

Meilin curled up on the ground, the mess of her office surrounding her, and cried.

-

"You've yet to tell me why you're moping,"

Syaoran grimaced. He hadn't even _heard_ the door open. "Sakaki-sama, will you just give it up already?"

"No," she replied bluntly, "and I'm not leaving until I get answers."

"What?" Syaoran shouted, angry that his boss wouldn't leave him alone. It took him a second to realize that she'd slipped something around his wrist, but when he didn't he found that he had been cuffed to a locked drawer in his desk. Instinctively, he reached for the key, which was promptly snatched from him.

"And neither are you," Sakaki finished arrogantly as she tucked both keys into the middle of her bra.

-

Wiping her tears, she staged to her feet. The girl with the blue hair had been correct. She'd been fighting something that didn't exist. There was no need to fight anymore. It felt like hitting rock bottom. Now she understood. She was just an extremely stubborn fool that wouldn't listen to anyone. Today, though… Today, she could hear it loud and clear.

_Make things right._

_It's your fault._

She winced at the cruel last words. It hurt her a lot because…

The voice was right.

-

Sakura stepped out of Tomoyo's office with her friends right behind her.

"Hey, Sakura," Keiko began slowly.

"Yes?"

"I hope you remember that we're leaving tomorrow,"

She froze and the information hit like a ton of bricks. She was slightly relieved, but she didn't want to leave her friends again.

Or Syaoran…

However, her thoughts were swiftly cut off when she found someone was approaching them—Meilin! The woman's face was red and lifeless looking, and her eyes were stained with old tears. Nobody knew what would happen.

They stared in shock as Meilin got to her knees and lowered her forehead to the ground.

"I'm sorry," she whispered in a raspy voice. "I'm really, truly sorry."

* * *

**Author's Note:** Ayup, I didn't edit this chapter since I wanted to get it up as soon as possible. Hopefully there weren't too many typos and grammar errors. Okay, what I wanted to say was that the next update _will not_ be the first part of the last chapter. I'm sure these will come much quicker, however, because they'll be shorter. The next two updates will be omakes, and I'm pretty sure you'll enjoy them. I've got some good ideas!

Hope you enjoyed it, and please review! **Constructive criticism is very appreciated.**

Until next time!


	30. OMAKE I : Unavoidable Chaos

**Disclaimer:** Wait; there ISN'T one this chapter. I own everything in this chapter except for Syaoran Li.

**Author's Note:** See? You can't deny that that was really, super, awesomely fast. Then again, this omake is much shorter than every chapter. Ah, I finally finished my essay, but now finals are approaching, so I typing chapter 30 might take a little longer than expected. I'll try to place the next omake between this update and the next chapter (or at least the first part of it). :D

**To the reviewers: **Oh, thank you, thank you. No romance this chapter though. Sorry! XD This was meant for laughs and is also meant to fulfill some of your desires. I've had this idea for a _long_ time. By the way, **mountainelements**, I agree with you completely. At one point in time, I thought this thing would never end. Fortunately, this _isn't_ a soap opera. Let's face it: most of those really _do_ never end. Once again, thanks for the reviews! I hope you are thoroughly entertained by this OMAKE!

* * *

**OMAKE I – Unavoidable Chaos**

"I like the way you're thinking," Rei complimented truthfully as she looked at her accomplice. Finally, Sakura would get what she deserved. That stupid woman… Rei wanted to smash things into the wall whenever she thought about her.

"Thanks," Mizuki accepted graciously. "Sakura won't know what hit her! And there's no way that Syaoran will go for a bald girl!"

"Yeah," the other evil lady agreed. "Ah, and Syaoran's just so hot! I can't wait to have him all to myself!"

Mizuki raised an eyebrow. "Excuse me? _I'm_ the one who made up the plan, so _I_ get Syaoran to myself. You get revenge on Sakura. It's a win-win situation."

"I'm not going to just watch you put your dirty claws on my Syao-kun!" Rei countered angrily, starting forward a bit.

"He's not _your_ Syao-kun, and never will be!" the opposing female threw back haughtily. She flung her long hair over her shoulder with her nose high and proud. "That sexy beast is mine!"

"_NEVER!_" screamed Rei as she shoved Mizuki backwards, pulling the trigger to their fight.

Mizuki shrieked and pushed her opponent back before the brown-haired slut lunged and tugged roughly at her hair. More screams were exchanged when they got into a slapping brawl. Feminine squeals flew about as the two enemies smacked at the other's hands.

Unfortunately, the battling females happened to be wrestling in the lunchroom, and when Rei's back bashed against the sink's tap, all hell broke loose.

"EEK!" Rei shouted in terror as the freezing cold water splashed against her back. "WHAT THE HELL!"

"Ha! Serves you right!" the Tokyo employee taunted.

A war-like cry came from Rei's mouth as she adjusted her fingers under the nozzle to get the flowing liquid to spray at Syaoran-obsessed girl. It worked superbly, drenching every spot on the front of her top.

"THAT WAS MY FAVOURITE SHIRT, YOU BITCH!"

More chaos entered the room as they launched at each other like a couple of feral animals—just with not enough clothes on. Wet outfits, scratches faces, bruised arms, slapped up faces—all these things were there. Just when more flesh scraping was about to ensue, the door swung open to reveal a bunch of prettily made-up girls. The vicious beings froze.

"Mizuki?" the first girl asked in an appalled manner. "What happened, and who's this chick?"

Both of the formerly attacking females still had a handful of the other's hair in their grasp.

"This slut thinks that Syaoran-kun is hers, but he's so obviously mine!" Mizuki explained without thinking.

Apparently, it was most definitely the wrong thing to say.

"What?" the same girl in the doorway questioned in disbelief, shocked. "He's neither of yours! Syaoran-kun is _my_ man!"

The depths of Hell opened further, if that were even possible. Shouts arose through the room and the workers found themselves fighting for the man of their dreams.

"He's mine!"

"No, Syao-kun's going to marry me!"

"Screw that! Syaoran's going to make passionate love to me!"

"Like he ever would! I'm going to have his babies!"

"Yeah? Well… Well… I'm going to be so sexy that his nose starts bleeding!"

"No way! You're fat! Someone as cool as him would never like you!"

"And you think you'd stand a chance? You're just as giant as she is!"

"I only weigh 115 pounds!"

"So what? I only weigh 90! I told you that you were fat!"

Screeches of who would win Syaoran and why filled the lunchroom like never before, and Rei and Mizuki resumed their fight.

"Syaoran's going to be _MINE!_"

-

Elsewhere… Syaoran sat in his office chair, glaring profusely at Sakaki. Suddenly, an itching feeling crawled up his nose and…

"ACHOO!"

"Yuck," Sakaki commented as she backed away from him just a little bit.

"Whatever," he replied dryly, picking up a tissue with his free hand and wiping his nose.

Hopefully he wasn't getting allergies.

* * *

**Author's Note:** And that is the end of our omake! If you liked it, I'm very glad. If you didn't like it, well, sorry if it didn't meet your standards. I will update as soon as I feel that enough of chapter 30 has been transferred to my computer.

Comments will be very appreciated, and so will **constructive criticism.** (Yeah, didn't really edit this either. XD)


	31. OMAKE II : Haunted Past

**Author's Note:** Hey again, everyone! Ooh, no disclaimer for this chapter. Everything's mine! –_Insert evil and maniacal laughter- _Anyhow, I'm sorry I can't offer you a longer update, but I promise part one of chapter 30 will be posted after my exams, so don't fret! Besides, my social studies teacher was kind enough to give us ANOTHER essay after the last one. Yippee! I'm so happy! -_Glares...-_ I hope this omake is good. I've been planning it for a while... :D

**To the reviewers:** Rock on, guys! WOW! I can't believe the last omake received more comments than chapter 27. Odd... Oo Enough about that though! Thanks a whole bunch for the reviews! I really do appreciate all of you taking some time out of your day to read and comment! I know you've all been waiting for something like this, so have fun and THANK YOU once again!

* * *

**OMAKE II – Haunted Past**

Lei's bags were packed and ready to go. He was now at the airport waiting patiently for his plane to be boarded. Ah, yes, his dear flight 108. Finally, he was getting out of here. He'd stayed here too long for his own good, and profit was finished in Tokyo. He'd already scammed numerous girls.

"Hyouto-kun, is that you?" questioned a pretty girl with long, black hair.

The businessman knew that his name was most certainly not Hyouto, but that _had_ been one of the fake names he'd used before? It didn't matter. He was leaving soon anyhow.

"Ah, Kakumi-chan, long time no see. How've you been?" he asked his ex-target smoothly, quickly recognizing her face.

"Well, I've been wondering about you," she admitted. "You just disappeared one day."

"Toki-kun? I didn't think I'd see you here," another beautiful girl commented.

Kakumi blinked in confusion. "Who's this, Hyouto-kun?"

"Hikari-chan… Hey…" he greeted feebly. Okay, _two?_ One was plenty enough, and now he had _two_ ex-targets barking up his ass.

"Oh my, is that Lei I see?"

"Souta, why are you here?"

"Jin! I haven't seen you for a while!"

"Haruka-chan, Yumi-chan, Mika-chan…" he spluttered in disbelief. Two had somehow changed to five—_five!_

"Who are _they?_" all of them shouted simultaneously, pointing an accusing index finger at his face.

"There you are, you bastard!" screamed the now arriving sixth maiden. "I've been searching for you for the last four months!"

"Tsuki-chan?" Oh perfect, now there were six.

"Don't Tsuki-chan me, Ryu-kun—or should I say, _Ayase Lei!_" she hissed, flashing a police badge.

Lei reeled back and flinched in horror. He'd dated a _police officer?_ That had _not_ been in his calculations! No wonder she was one of the scariest women he'd ever gone out with. She was in the ranks along with Sakura!

"I finally get to kick your ass, Ryu, after all that you've done to me," she cackled menacingly, loving ever bit of terror that appeared on his face.

"What's going on?" asked the female named Hikari. "What are you going to do to Toki-kun?"

Tsuki whirled on her. "His name isn't Toki. It's really Ayase Lei, the man who dates a woman to steal her money when she isn't looking. He's stolen over a million yen from me," she explained, cracking her knuckles with a grin, "and now, I'm sure he wants payback."

"Ayase… Ayase L-Lei? But Hyouto-kun, how could you lie to me?" Kakumi stuttered in desperation. "You said we'd find that money-stealing thief together!"

"You told me that too!"

"And me!"

"Same here!"

"Me as well!"

The police officer smirked and winked at the man. "We'll just have _so_ much fun together, Ryu,"

Lei gulped, looking for an escape route.

"You…lied to us? You… You'll… You'll pay!" Haruka declared angrily as the other females nodded in agreement.

"Last call for flight 108! Last call for flight 108!" the speaker barked loudly.

Crap. Lei had totally missed his flight call trying to fend off these girls. Now, however, was he chance to flee! He could get away from this country, finally!

Said man edged away slowly from the group of furious and bloodthirsty women. Suddenly, he felt a light tap on his shoulder. His eyes widened abruptly, nearly wishing he were never born.

Tsuki stood behind him, grinning like a psychotic maniac. "Going somewhere?"

Another escape route! There just had to be one! Lei spun and found the other just-as-frightening females surrounded him from all sides.

"Boarding for flight 108 is now closed. Thank you," spoke the intercom.

Evil smiles touched each woman's face as they advanced toward their target.

A high-pitched, feminine, and blood-curdling scream rang out through the airport.

* * *

**Author's Note:** Hopefully it wasn't too confusing. If you were confused, it's to be expected because I used so many different names. Lei used his real name when scamming a few girls and the following: Hyouto, Ryu, Toki, Souta, and Jin. Each time a different person was talking and using a different name for him, it was because he gave that girl a fake name.

REALLY fun omake to write. I haven't had that much fun writing a chapter for this story in a long time. Thank goodness I've finally finished writing it. That scene has been in my dreams for many nights. Was it up to standards? If not, I apologize. That was just the way I pictured Lei's demise.

**CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM** is very much appreciated as well as comments. :D


	32. Your Gaze

**Disclaimer:** CCS will never be owned by me unless I somehow figure out how to rule the world.

**Author's Note:** Hey, everyone! Oh my, that was a fast update. You know, this chapter's over 8000 words? I hope you'll enjoy it. I spent _a lot_ of time writing it. Originally, I was going to post this in parts, but since I'm feeling generous today since it's my birthday, I'm posting it all. Guys! I'm fifteen! By the way, I didn't have time to edit this. I just finished writing it and I wanted to post it as soon as possible, so sorry if there are any errors.

**To the reviewers:** Well, good to know most of you liked the last omake. I'm very grateful to all of you for giving me your support. This one's DEFINITELY for you. I would never have finished without you guys! Also, I'm NEVER going to write a story this long again. Oh, that really hurt, finishing this. WOW, though! 400 reviews? THANKS SO MUCH EVERYONE!

**I feel I should give a special thank you to _SnowCharms_, the one reader and reviewer that has stuck with me since chapter one and reviewed for every chapter since. Thank you for always supporting me! Everyone else too!  
**

* * *

**Chapter 30 – Your Gaze**

Before it might've been a simple irritation, something he hadn't need to pay attention to very much at all. All he had to do was scratch the itch and it would go away, but now, it had evolved. He couldn't ignore it any longer, because it had become a rash. It was a red-eyed and itchy, and it refused to leave unless he did something about it.

_Sakaki, the indestructible rash! _

_Now that's rich._

"Uh, you're going to give me that back, right?" Syaoran inquired hopefully from his chair, reaching out feebly at his boss.

"Maybe later," the red-eyed female answered with the wave of a hand, "but if you want it now, you'll have to come and get it."

Syaoran stared helplessly at Sakaki—her face, not her…chest—and swallowed. "Won't you or your boyfriend murder me?"

"Of course—at least somewhat—and I'll also press charges for sexual harassment."

"That's _low_, Sakaki-sama. What _you're_ doing now is harassment."

"Anything for the greater good,"

"And why is that?"

The woman snorted. "Believe it or not, I actually care for my worker," she informed him, fiddling with her nails.

"Oh," Syaoran snickered bitterly, "so this is care?"

"I _guess_ you wouldn't understand," the raven-haired beauty drawled as she leaned against the wall beside him. "Anyway, that's not what I'm here to talk about. Enough of the idle chat! You are going to give me answers, or you're never getting out of that chair again."

"Are you threatening me?" he asked angrily. Syaoran involuntarily jerked at the woman in rage, but the cuffs pulled him back. He hissed at the pain when he felt the metal dig into his skin.

Raisin an eyebrow at his actions, she replied, "Yes, since it's the only way you'll talk."

"Tch, you're evil."

"Hmph, very perceptive,"

"You're not being angered as easily. Learning from your oh-so-hot boy toy?"

"Do you want a brand-new broken nose?"

"Never mind,"

Sakaki sighed and ran a hand through her ponytail. "Alright then, so spit it out. What's wrong with you?"

"How many times must I _repeat_ myself?" Syaoran groaned, slamming his forehead on his desk. "There is _nothing_ wrong or bother me, okay?"

"Oh, that is _it!_" The intimidating woman hit his desk with both hands, causing Syaoran to lift his head in surprise.

Unfortunately for him, his boss looked excessively scary at that moment. Syaoran was almost certain that he'd nearly wet his pants when he'd looked at her.

_Holy crap!_

_She's serious!_

_She's about to blow a gasket!_

"Um…Sakaki-sama…?"

"_SHUT UP!_ I've freaking _had it_ with your stubborn smart-ass attitude!" she stormed furiously. "Here I am doing _everything _I can to try and _help_ you with whatever _God forsaken_ situation you're in, and _you're_ being so impossible that all my effort's going to waste! Maybe you just think that I'm the type of person who will just _threaten_ you for personal interest, but did you ever consider that I actually _REALLY_ _CARE?_ _Jeez!_ You're acting like Sakura found a new _boyfriend_ or something!"

Amidst a few guilty (and fearful) feelings he'd obtained from Sakaki's speech, the huge shock came pouncing. A sudden movement he hadn't meant to take came upon him, and once again Syaoran found himself nursing a sore wrist. "Ow…"

The boss blinked in surprise. "What, so you mean that was it?"

He bit his lip. Guilty or not, he wasn't about to admit it.

"Oh, um, well then… Just forget about that whole speech!" laughed Sakaki sheepishly, making Syaoran want to smash his face against the table again. "So, who's her boyfriend?"

"I don't know… Some guy from Kawasaki," the brown-haired male conceded stubbornly. _Of course_ he knew the name, but…

Finally, the strong woman nodded in satisfaction. "Okay then! I'm going to get to the bottom of this! I'll figure out their relationship!"' she promised before quickly leaving the room.

He sighed at her antics. Thankfully, none of his furniture was broken.

Time to get back to moping…

Another sigh escaped from his mouth as he stood up and was promptly tugged back down. Damn it! He was still handcuffed!

"Sakaki-sama? Hello? Sakaki-sama! Oh my God, _SOMEONE HELP ME!"_

-

It was strange having someone bowing down to you, as if they were begging forgiveness from a God. It was even _stranger_ to know that the person, whom was currently bowing to you, had despised you for at least half a year.

"Meilin…" Sakura began, though she had no words following.

"I'm sorry!" cried the girl on the floor, the carpet slightly muffling her sobbing words. "I don't know what else to say! You were right and I was wrong! I… I… I… He…"

The brunette stared at the miserable figure worriedly. She didn't notice the two friends behind her exchange glances of concern. Sakura knelt down next to Meilin, putting a hand on her shoulder. She knew exactly how it felt like.

"You caught him in the act, didn't you?" she asked. The question was entirely rhetorical. She already knew the answer.

Suddenly, Meilin threw her arms around her, sobbing uncontrollably and mumbling words incoherently.

"The whole thing was an act! It was all for my money!" the Chinese female wailed loudly. "I should have believed you, but I didn't! I believe him! I don't know what I was thinking! I was just so… jealous of you! Everything! I just…I was so angry at everything!"

She gently comforted her old friend. "It was my fault. I made a promise I couldn't keep."

"Over a stupid, silly crush! I don't even understand it anymore. I… I don't even understand my own logic anymore…"

Sakura nodded, having gone through the exact same experience in her life—except what she'd seen Lei do was probably worse. It had scarred her for _life._ "Let's take her back to my place," she suggested, looking to Keiko and Tomoyo. "She shouldn't be alone right now."

They nodded in agreement and pulled the girl to her feet.

-

"Hey! _YOU!_"

Sayuri doubled-over in shock, almost choking on the ice cream she'd had in her mouth. She coughed wildly as she felt a soft hand on her back, rubbing it slowly.

I hate when things go down the wrong tube!

Cough… "T-thanks…" Cough… "Haku…" Cough…

"I said _YOU!_"

"Ack! What do you want? For me to cough myself to death?" she asked the screaming intruder, pouting as she whirled at her assaulter.

Of course, it was probably not the best idea.

"Ah—hah! Sakaki-sama! I'm sorry! I didn't know it was you!" Sayuri shrieked fearfully, watching, frozen, as the scary boss raced towards them—surprisingly, in heels. She was going to tackle them! She was going to kill them!

A gentle breeze blew passed Sayuri as she stood there stupidly with wide eyes. "_YOU!_" shouted the boss again. The brunette turned to look at the woman that had zoomed by her and saw that Sakaki had pinned her latest victim against the wall by the shoulders.

"Haku!" she screamed out in terror.

"W-what?" Haku stuttered.

"_YOU,_" Sakaki repeated for the billionth time, frightening the wits out of everyone around. "_ARE YOU GOING OUT WITH KINOMOTO SAKURA?_"

His feared blue eyes shone, full of fear. "N-no! O-of c-c-course not!"

"_ARE YOU SURE?_"

"Definitely," he squeaked in horror, though he was telling the truth.

"_GOOD!_" she replied fiercely before letting Haku free and speeding off in another direction.

"She _is_ scary," Sayuri shuddered.

"I feel sorry for Kamiya-sama," the blond breathed, still shaking slightly.

-

She wasn't sure what else she could do besides stay by Meilin. Sakura certainly always had her friends around to help, but the main recovery she'd initiated by herself. She'd woken up one day and realized that there were better things to do in life than angst over Lei—trillions of things better than that! She couldn't do that for Meilin. She would have to figure it out by herself.

Said person was curled up on the sofa, fast asleep with closed, red eyes and a tear-streaked face. Sakura glanced at her from across the room. How long would her recuperation take? She wouldn't even be there to help!

"Sakura, we need to talk," Keiko informed her, briefly acknowledging the sleeping person before roughly tugging the brunette into the kitchen.

She squeaked at the force, but obeyed anyway. It was surprising to see that Tomoyo was already in there too. However, Keiko was the one doing the talking.

"We're leaving tomorrow," the blunette stated bluntly.

"I know," she shot back. Did they think she was _that _stupid?

"I know you know, but that's not the point,"

"Then what _is?_"

"You're out of time tomorrow," Tomoyo cut in smoothly, "so you have to figure out what you're going to do."

"About what?"

"About _him,_"

Sakura had no answer for that. She hated it when they were right.

-

"Okay, so if she's not with _that_ brat, then who…" Sakaki mumbled to herself. She _had _to get to the bottom of this! A grunt escaped her as she lightly kicked the ground, slowly scaling the corridor.

_There has to be an answer._

That was the only guy who'd come from Kawasaki besides Kamiya, but Syaoran had said "some guy." Perhaps he was still in Kawasaki. Her watch beeped, much to her dismay. It was time for a meeting that she couldn't skip, and she'd been dreading this for months. Her investigation would have to wait. Answers could be found by asking the person most involved directly, but for now it was time to focus on work.

Sakaki yawned, lifting her arms and stretching out her muscles. She began at her destination, putting a thoughtful finger on her chin. She couldn't help but think she was forgetting something.

-

"Syaoran?"

"Holy damn, _finally_ someone comes!" said person groaned in agony, still tugging at the handcuffs. "Eriol, get in here and help me!"

As predicted, the door clicked open and Eriol's head poked in. "Whoa, dude, what's up?"

_Calm,_ he told himself. _Stay calm._ "Sakaki cuffed me to my drawer, and it's locked so I can't pull the whole thing out."

"They key?"

"She took it."

"What, were you two up to something kinky?" asked the best friend slyly.

He blanched in response. "What the hell! Nasty, man! Like I ever would!"

"Okay, okay, just checking."

"Whatever! Hurry up and find a way to get this thing off me!"

Eriol didn't waste time, dashing to the desk and pulling out a small wire from his pocket before sticking one end into the cuff's lock, fiddling with it.

"Eriol, is that…a bobby pin?"

His companion paid him no mind. "I think so, why?"

"Why the heck do you have one of those?"

The wire continued to dig within the lock though the user's face became flushed. "It somehow got stuck in my hair when Tomoyo visited my office the other day…"

"Okay, I don't need the details," Syaoran stated quickly.

"Your loss,"

He grimaced and lifted his hands to his face.

Hold on a minute…

A double-take and…

"You did it! Holy crap, you freaking got me out of those cuffs! I love you! I love you, dude, but I'm not going to hug you!" Syaoran shrilled in joy.

"Er…right…" the dumbfounded boy-who-was-loved replied, glancing at his friend in fear.

"I'm getting out of this death-trap!" the free man declared in determination. "Tell Sakaki-sama that I went home early!" Yes, he was not about to let her do _that_ again. Never, ever.

"But I thought we could—"

"No time! We'll do that later! Bye!"

Not wasting another second, Syaoran shot out the door.

-

_This is one hell of a long meeting._

Sakaki's legs felt like jelly from sitting so long. Why was such an important meeting so boring and stupid? Losses, profits, people who should be fired, and a billion breaks in the meantime, blah, blah, blah! That company big shot was the worst one. Even the boss was better! She pretty much hated this guy. At least she could talk back to him since only the big boss could fire her, but she still hadn't done that yet.

She barely listened as the man pushed the glasses up on his face. "We also thin that all romantic relationships in your agency should be forbidden. We believe—"

"Hold it!" the black-haired female interjected angrily. "I don't think so. Many of my employees are already involved that way. What exactly are you suggesting we do?" She couldn't allow this to happen! If it did, she'd never get Sakura back _or_ get the happy couple together!

"You'll just have to—"

"Fire them? _You_ should be fired for even suggesting that absurd idea!"

"Sakaki-san, I advise you to lower your voice before I—"

"What, call Yukino-sama? She like me more than she'll ever like you!"

"We have all discussed this rule, Sakaki-san,"

"Screw the rule, and get the hell out of my agency!"

"That is not—"

"Get _out_ ore meet with my fist!"

The man gathered his things in one sweep and immediately left. Perfect, six hours of wasted time, half on six half-hour breaks for some foolish reason, and half listening to a rambling dumb ass. It was late now, and she was starving.

_Might as well grab a bite to eat._

She'd wanted to head straight to Sakura's, but she was just _so hungry._ Her stomach would not stand for it to be ignored. Okay, food first, employee issues later. Food: top priority.

-

She sat on her bed in the dark, staring solemnly at the digital clock. Sleeping was entirely impossible. Sakura curled her knees up closer to her chest, now re-examining her light-pink pyjamas. Letting out another deep breath, she glanced at the clock again. It was nearing midnight as the numbers flashed 11:55. _Syaoran, Syaoran, Syaoran._

_Shut up…_

Her head was throbbing. It was bad to think this much. How could someone fall in love the way she did? It made absolutely no sense! They hadn't gone on a date, out to lunch, _anything_ that covered "falling in love." Heck, they'd practically never been alone in a room together! She knew that Syaoran had really liked her before, but she didn't know when her own feelings had begun. It wasn't the Christmas party. That had purely been physical pleasure, though she thought there might have been a few fuzzy feelings involved. It was attraction, but not anymore. Somewhere along the events, _somewhere_, it had happened without her even knowing. Frankly, it was quite annoying that she was thing so much. That was supposed to be over long ago.

Sakura jumped slightly when she heard a soft rap at the front door, sprawling her legs out on the mattress. Nobody else was up right now, and Meilin was still passed out from the drama along with her hysterical fit. Keiko, Sayuri, and Haku were all sleeping, and Rei was…God knew where. She was lucky, she decided, for a distraction.

_Yes, a distraction._

The emerald-eyed woman stood up at the continuous knocking and opened the door.

Hmm, strange distraction.

"Sakaki-sama?" she yelped in surprise.

"Yeah," replied the boss dismissively, "and even though it's been nice weather lately, it's pretty _cold_ at midnight,"

"Oh, um, would you like to come in?" Sakura asked, catching the hint.

"Hell, I'm glad you finally asked," answered the shivering woman. She stepped through the door and passed Sakura, examining her surroundings before whirling to Sakura's face.

She recoiled once the boss faced her, staring at her closely…literally. "Is there…something you need?" Sakura questioned nervously, edging back slowly.

"I _do_ need to know if you're going out with someone. So, who is he?" demanded Sakaki, getting straight to the point.

"_Who?_"

"Your _boyfriend!_"

"What boyfriend? I _have_ no boyfriend!"

"Eh? You don't?" Sakaki blinked and backed off.

She shook her head for emphasis. Honestly, were rumours always spreading about her? Some _truth_ might help a bit!

The raven-haired female blinked twice. Three times. "So why the heck aren't you with Syaoran?"

It was Sakura's turn to be surprised. "W-what do you mean?"

"He thinks you're going _out_ with someone," she replied, rolling her eyes as she smacked her face with the palm of her hand. "You guys should be _together_ by now! Holy crap, this is _such_ a mess. Why did I even get myself involved?"

It felt like her heart was going to pound out of her chest from beating so hard with anticipation. "And why does he care?"

"Do I have to tell you? Jeez, you _already know._ You know better than I do."

Sakura knew. She wouldn't admit it to herself though. Her promise to Meilin though, it always haunted her and that's why she could allow it to happen. Sakura hadn't kept her promise and it was one of her biggest regrets in life.

_Syaoran, Syaoran, Syaoran._

_Shut up…_

"Kinomoto?"

"Ah? Sakaki-sama?" she answered, finally paying attention again.

"You're leaving tomorrow. You understand that, right?" Sakaki asked seriously, now all frustration wiped from her face.

"Of course I know!" Sakura snapped angrily with a touch of irritation. This was the third time today! "I know, and I know it well, okay?"

As predicted, the woman snickered. "Looks like I'm not the only one who's on your case."

She glared, which she normally wouldn't do, but this visit was getting annoying.

"You have to consider your options," she lectured wisely, her piercing yet calm face back on. "I hope you realize that this is your last chance. You leave here tomorrow without telling him, you'll never get another chance. We _gave_ you this chance, so don't waste it."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

Sakaki mumbled something that sounded like, "Stubborn fool." "He loves you, he thinks about you, he _loses sleep_ over you, and he's damn useless without you around. I would've fired his ass nine times over in the last seven months while you were gone! Don't lose him! If you don't do it now, you'll _never_ do it!"

"I broke a promise!" Sakura burst out, exhausted from everyone telling her what to do. She couldn't _handle_ all this anymore! "I have to make it up somehow!"

"Breaking something means you fix it. It doesn't mean you isolate yourself from the person you're in love with. How the hell is torturing yourself and Syaoran going to make it any better?"

"Maybe it involved that person!" the Cherry Blossom retorted.

"Maybe it's time you think about yourself!" Sakaki shot back. "You're too kind to want to hurt another person, but whatever you choose will cause pain no matter what. It all comes down to what _you _want. Too bad that it's an ultimatum. Would you rather be with the guy you love or try to fix something that can't be repaired? I think the choice is obvious!"

"How do you know it can' t be fixed?" she asked hoarsely.

"I've got eyes and ears," the boss replied in a matter-of-factly voice. "Just think about it." She flew passed Sakura and out the door.

"Just think about it…"

She stood beside the door silently. That _had_ been all she could think about, but she didn't _want_ to think about it. She just wanted to _sleep_.

-

Sakaki could not even begin to describe the frustration she felt towards her employees. They just _had_ to make everything so complicated. She wanted to scream or use her stress on beating up her boyfriend—the latter sounded so much better. Amidst her thoughts, she suddenly realized something very out of place. Something felt very uncomfortable…

Unlocking her car door and stepping in, the odd sensation's presence appeared again, except this time, she knew where it was. The red-eyed beauty reached into the top of her shirt and pulled out two keys. Her eyes widened, realizing what she'd forgotten.

"Oh shi…"

-

His eyes opened again in restlessness. Apparently, sleeping wasn't something he was auspicious at. Syaoran swore he had bags under his eyes and cursed his insomnia. He was so freaking tired! Why couldn't he sleep?

_She's leaving tomorrow…_

_Yeah, and there's nothing you can do to stop it._

It was exactly like those six months ago, except this time, he felt even more helpless. Last time he was allowed to plead, beg, or persuade all as much as he wanted, but now she had some. Sakura would have not intention of returned to Tokyo to stay with them.

Frankly, it felt like his heart was being kicked in the crotch ten times over, if it were to have one. He felt stupid, broken, useless—totally handicapped, and not just emotionally. Growling, Syaoran sat up indignantly and threw his pillow at the wall in annoyance, as if he were a child having a temper-tantrum.

"Screw it!" he groaned loudly as he rolled over and onto the floor, grunting when he hit it. The amber-eyed man lazily glanced at the digital clock that displayed the numbers 3:42. Damn it, was it that early already?

He flipped over onto the front side of his stomach and sprawled out within his fallen cover. Slowly, his eyes began to close…

It seemed like only minutes had passed when he awoke to the sound of someone yelling at his front door. He couldn't identify the person yet as the yelling was a bit muffled. Moaning in dismay, he pushed himself up and glanced at the clock. 3:56. It _had_ only been a few minutes.

"HEY!" screamed the person again. "OPEN UP!"

_Who in the friggin' world starts screaming at my door at four in the morning?_

Cursing inwardly, Syaoran forced himself to his feet, wiping his extremely tired eyes with more agitation than anything. He stalked to the door in just his loose, grey sweatpants and then opened the door, fuming.

"What?" he demanded at the person the door.

…His boss…

He was a braver man early in the morning. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?"

Sakaki eyed him wearily, seemingly just as exhausted as him. "Wow, no wonder all those females throw themselves at you."

Syaoran shook his head in aggravation. "Look, I don't have time for this. I'm _tired_ and I want to _go to bed_—not talk to the person who chained me to my desk for hours!"

"Sorry, jeez," she apologized as she scratched the back of her head nervously. "I forgot, and I had an important meeting. Hey, how'd you escape anyway?"

"_SAKAKI-SAMA._"

"Alright, alright! I'll get to the point!" the raven-haired woman quickly stated. "I would've come earlier, but I realized I left you locked, so I head back to the office and when I found you weren't there, I thought you might be at home. I _was_ going to go there, but I fell asleep in my car before I turned it on, and that's why I'm here now!"

He glared at her relentlessly. "Are you done telling me your life story?"

"No, what I meant to say was that I went to see Sakura earlier," she explained, unfazed.

Syaoran flinched. Yeah, the one person he _didn't_ want to think about.

"You know she's leaving tomorrow,"

"We've been over this. She's got a boyfriend."

Taking a deep breath, Sakaki smirked. "After extensive research, I've concluded that she doesn't."

"_Yes,_ she does," he shot back, not wanting to be contradicted and completely certain of himself. "His name is Haku!"

"I thought you didn't know!" Sakaki hissed harshly, now trying to keep her voice down as to not wake his neighbours.

"I lied!"

The brown-haired male heard her mutter something about wasted time. He still didn't understand why the woman was here, and really, he was grumpy, pissed, and thoroughly agitated. All she was doing was bringing feelings that he wanted to discard back to the surface. Thinking about it didn't help at all.

Suddenly, her eyes lit up dangerously. "Haku…you mean that guy with the blondish hair?"

"Yeah? What of it?" Syaoran asked cautiously, raising an eyebrow.

"I already _asked_ him if he was going out with her," she explained proudly, making Syaoran wonder exactly what she was so proud of. "I swear, he nearly wet his pants when I was there. He couldn't have been lying."

Oh, that.

_Well, he's not the only one with wet pants._

"_And_ he was with that happy, sugar girl, not Sakura."

JACKPOT!

"You're…sure?" he asked in uncertainty. Maybe his ears were lying to him.

"Yes! Get it through your unnaturally thick skull that Sakura had not boyfriend and freaking go after her!" Sakaki commanded urgently.

Syaoran didn't need to be told twice. He shut the door on his boss ignorantly and dashed through the house in search of something decent to wear.

About five minutes later, he was in his car getting ready to drive. Relief flooded though him faster than his own blood. _Sakura_ _had no boyfriend._ Hallelujah! Seriously, hallelujah! Did she turn Haku don? Had it all been a mistake? Had he lost precious moments of teasing and flirting wither her? Had he made himself miserable? It was possible.

_Sakura, Sakura, Sakura._

Hallelujah!

It was then that Syaoran once again became aware of his tiredness. The cause of his lack of sleep had just magically disappeared. He was feeling so happy, so relieved, so…tired and hopeful.

He pushed his keys into the ignition, blinking droopily to keep himself awake. He could feel his eyelids falling and his back slouching forward. Drowsily, his head slumped onto the steering wheel, narrowly missing the horn. Even sheer willpower couldn't keep him awake as sleep decided to step in at the worst possible time.

-

"Ready to go, Sakura? Sayuri asked cheerfully as she bounced about the sidewalk in front of the Tokyo Design Agency.

_No._

"Yeah," Sakura replied with a nod. Her thoughts were a complete contrast to her words. She was most definitely _not_ ready to go, nor did she want to.

_Syaoran, Syaoran, Syaoran._

_Shut up._

Where was he anyway? The _least_ he could do was come early to say goodbye to them. He was supposed to help, right? Okay, so maybe that was just the tiny portion of her mind that was selfish. Too bad. Sakura didn't even want to leave. She missed here. A week was not enough—not even close.

Besides, she needed sleep like crazy. She hadn't slept a wink last night, nor had she ever stopped thinking. She didn't want to leave. Sakura wanted to stay with everyone—with Tomoyo, Eriol, and…Syaoran. She'd thought leaving this time would be easier, but what she was feeling really contrasted with her theory. This was giving her an even harder time than she'd thought. This time, it would be so much harder.

Her feelings for Syaoran bubbled up within her. It was _definitely_ going to be harder to leave.

Keiko turned to her with a piercing eye. "Sakura,"

The Cherry Blossom listened. Keiko had been oddly kind to her lately. She still couldn't believe the ice-queen had defended her. "Yes?"

"You're coming with us?" she asked, a very neutral tone in her voice.

"Y-yeah, of course," was Sakura's answer to the eerie question. She _did_ work with them.

Keiko's eyes chilled her to the core, almost making her shudder visibly. It was scary, yet there was not a hint of malice or anger. She was simply looking at Sakura without emotion. It was passive even.

"You're so stupid," the blunette declared with her regular bored tone before she walked away from Sakura's side, leaving a fairly puzzled woman watching her back.

What was that supposed to mean?

At that moment, Kamiya exited the doors of the Tokyo agency as their ride pulled over at the curb.

"LIMO!" Sayuri shrieked in delight, grabbing onto Haku's hand and dragging him into the car eagerly.

"I presume everyone is here?" he asked with one breath. Her boss looked slightly dishevelled; his hair was messy, his shirt wrinkled, and his breaths short and ragged.

She _did not_ want to know what his goodbye with Sakaki had been like.

"Rei hasn't come yet," Sakura pointed out, also recalling that the secretary had not come back to her house yesterday, or even when Meilin had left with a short "Thank you." All her bags were gone as well.

"Sakura!" Tomoyo called cheerfully, joining the group. "I'm glad I made it in time!"

She laughed quietly. Oh no. This was leaving all over again. "I wouldn't hold it against you if you didn't come."

Her friend frowned deeply. "I'm making this worse, aren't I?" she asked as she bit her lip. "I shouldn't have come at all."

"No! Tomoyo—I chose to leave half a year ago. I have to deal with the consequences, but I'm really grateful you came!" Sakura reasoned desperately. There was no _way_ she was going to leave with her best friend feeling guilty.

"Sakura, you left because you were scared. You chose to leave because you couldn't deal with everything that happened! You chose to leave because of a stupid promise that totally clashed with your own feelings!" Tomoyo shouted suddenly. Her voice was loud and angry and her clenched fists were shaking uncontrollably. The grey-eyed designer was seething in fury, and Sakura didn't understand why.

"To-Tomoyo…?" she whispered nervously. The Cherry Blossom stared at her worriedly. Kamiya and Keiko had backed away at the distasteful yelling while Sayuri and Haku's heads were sticking out of the window in curiosity.

Her companion took a deep breath and shook her head. "I… I'm sorry," she apologized with a sigh. "It was just hard for me then. I lost my best friend with barely any notice."

"I didn't know…that you were so hurt," Sakura replied quietly as she comforted her friend with a hand on the shoulder.

"Well, now you know, and you're going again."

"There's not much I can do, but I really am sorry," she apologized sadly.

_I don't want to go!_

_I want to stay!_

Let me stay!

Screaming, screaming… She felt herself screaming inside. It was building up within her. She was going to die if she left.

"Are you prepared?" Kamiya questioned as he always did. "We are leaving as soon as Rei arrives."

Sakura swallowed. "Yes," the emerald-eyed beauty answered defiantly. She was _not_ betraying her feelings. She had to go back—_had_ to go back.

Yes, had to go back.

I don't want to go! I want to be here! I **need** to be here! Nevertheless, she still had to go back. "K-Kamiya-sama!" Rei gasped, yearning for air as she finally arrived. She looked absolutely horrible. Reddened scratches covered her face, a purple shiner was visible around her eye, her hair looked like a messy haystack, and her shirt and shirt were not only wet, but also ripped in various areas. "I—"

"I would prefer not to know," Kamiya interrupted swiftly, "and as long as you look as unprofessional as you do now, you _will_ obey my orders, else you will not be going home."

Rei didn't respond to the cruel remark and simply ducked into the car. Haku, however, could not keep his mouth shut.

"Get around Tokyo too, Rei?" he asked snidely with a smirk. Sayuri grinned, Keiko bit her lip, Sakura snorted, and Kamiya shot him the most murderous death glare ever.

If looks could kill…

-

Damn it.

The clocked scrolled to another number.

Crap.

It time for them to leave, and Syaoran had wisely fallen asleep in his car. He'd let himself down and now Sakura would never know. Stupid, idiot, fool—all words that were not strong enough to describe him. So close, yet so far. Screw it. He'd skip work and drink his liver to death at the bar.

Syaoran's head came down to rest on the horn on the steering wheel and a long "beeeeep" came screeching out. Many "Shut the heck up!" s came his way, so he lazily stopped the noise long enough to hear his cell phone ring.

"Hello?" he groaned into the speaker of the phone.

"Why the heck is Sakura leaving and where are you?" demanded his bossy boss.

"I fell asleep in my car," Syaoran admitted ashamedly. This was a sad conversation.

Silence…

"Well, uh, ahem, I guess I did too, so who's blaming you? Just hurry up and get your ass here!"

Wow, Sakaki hadn't threatened to kill him. So some progress had been made today. "A popular habit these days? And why do you want me there?"

"Sakura's still here, you lucky dumb ass."

"WHAT?" the shocked male shouted, a new thread of hope forming in his mind.

"Yeah, one of the employees is late, so they had to postpone the ride," she informed him hurriedly. "That person could show up any second, so you'd better get here fast. I can't stop them."

He paused momentarily before screaming, "THANK YOU, SAKAKI-SAMA!"

Sakaki didn't take the gratitude too well: "What the he—" Cue the shutting of the cell phone.

Syaoran turned his keys and slammed on the gas pedal with renewed determination.

_Sakura, Sakura, Sakura._

_Yes, Sakura._

-

Their chauffeur was apparently too jolly for his own good, and the connecting window to the front was broken. Sakura was immediately filled with remorse as soon as she stepped into the car.

"Morning, ride mates! Ready to get to Kawasaki?" he inquired optimistically.

The man received four glares (Kamiya, Keiko, Sakura, and Rei) and two smiles (Sayuri and Haku).

"Yeah! We're ready!" Sayuri shouted, oblivious to the fact that practically no one else shared her enthusiasm. The car's mood was extremely dark… "I'm eating cheese when I get back!"

"Good choice," the chauffeur agreed. "Today's a good day for cheese."

"Drive," Kamiya ordered coldly, glaring hard at the cheery driver. He did not have time for this foolish conversation. "I do not care about what sort of…dairy products you discuss, but you will _drive,_ and you will drive _now._"

"Yes, sir!" he replied with a happy-to-oblige salute. Still smiling, the man pushed a pair of keys into the ignition and turned. The engine immediately started up. "Alrighto! Let's go!"

The care moved just a tiny bit before stopping again and the engine was shut off. The employees glanced at each other in confusion and Kamiya looked as if he was going to boil the poor driver in hot water.

"_What_ are you_ doing?_" the angry boss asked, almost blowing up in rage.

"Sir, we can't drive like this," he informed him, looking behind his front seat. "I've just realized that there appears to be a flat tire. Everyone has to get out."

Kamiya shot him a death glare as he opened the car door and stepped out. The underlings followed suit.

Sakura took in a breath. This was _killing_ her. Why couldn't it be done and over with? She watched as their chauffeur busily pulled a tire pump out of the trunk and inserted it into the rubber object.

"S-sw…eet," someone gasped in exhaustion. "I…" wheeze, "made it,"

She turned around at the familiar voice and her eyes met amber orbs that were owned by the man in front of her who was desperately sucking in air.

"Syao…ran?" she spoke in astonishment. Sakura _had not_ seen this coming.

"Hey…" said person greeted in fatigue, hesitantly standing up straight. "…Sakura."

(A/N: Haha, I could've stopped it right there, but you guys would've killed me.)

-

Here he was, standing right in front of the woman he'd been chasing for the past year. Finally, _finally_, he had her at arm's length with a chance—a _real_ _chance_. All the hardships he'd gone through, all the stupid things he'd done (like falling asleep in his car), and all the torture he'd endured might have been for something if this worked out. Syaoran _was not_ going to let her leave. Not his time, no. He wasn't going down without a fight—no, he _refused_ to go down at all. The truth would be revealed, and the brown-haired male would force her to acknowledge it. If she didn't care, if she didn't feel for him, if she didn't want him at all, then Sakura could go, but even if her eyes didn't match her hateful words, he'd still fight. Syaoran would be the most annoyingly persistent person ever if she denied her feelings.

_I love her._

_I won't let her go like this._

"What are you doing here?" she asked finally, her tone a mix of spite and excitement. Now _that_ he hadn't expected. She was acting awfully icy.

"I came all this way and that's all I get?" Syaoran complained, feigning pain as he teased her. It felt good. This was something he was capable of.

"You _work_ here," Sakura pointed out curtly as a scowled touched her features.

"So do you," he countered.

"_No_, I don't,"

"Well, you _should_ still be working here."

"But I don't."

"You belong here," the amber-eyed man stated seriously, "with me." He could wait any long. He'd already waited too long. This was it. It was either all or nothing.

"Just stop it, Syaoran. I'm tired of this," Sakura replied firmly. Still, she wouldn't meet his eyes and he didn't understand why.

Fortunately, he was just as tired with her charade as she was. Syaoran knew he had do it. There were too many wasted opportunities and he wasn't about to waste another. She kept pushing him away for reasons he didn't know, which was all the more confusing, but he was going to get through to her.

Why was she trying so hard to hate him?

"Sakura, please, just hear me out," he requested softly. The moment of truth had arrived.

"About what?" she snapped viciously, almost making Syaoran retreat. Sakura was acting. She was acting…

"You know what? I'm not going to wait for your permission!" Syaoran concluded, more to himself than anyone else. No more waiting, no more stalling!

"_Permission for __**what?**_"

It was just so tiring…

"Screw it," he muttered as he hand flew around her waist, pulling her into a deep kiss.

-

Warm lips covered her own, and Sakura's wall totally crumbled. She had tried so hard to keep him away, to keep him from her heart. The Cherry Blossom knew it would be impossible to leave if she gave into her emotion, but he had done it. He had broken her shield.

Euphoria spread within her, and before she knew it, her arms had clutched onto Syaoran's shirt, pulling her body closer. He was too much to resist.

What seemed like an eternity, though it was likely only a few minutes, ended with both participants very satisfied. However, now that Sakura had come back to her senses, panic and embarrassment had taken over. Her grip on his shirt loosened and she turned away, but Syaoran didn't let her go.

Oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no…

She erased the blessed kiss from her mind and ignored the increasingly fuzzy feeling building inside.

"S-Syaoran, let me go," she ordered quietly, her voice just a shaky as her confidence. She swallowed nervously.

His face was buried in her hair, inhaling deeply. "No,"

"Syaoran…" she repeated as menacingly as she could at the moment. Threats were the only thing she could think of at the time.

"I won't let you go," he mumbled stubbornly, his mouth lowering closer to her ear, "ever."

"Syaoran," Sakura whispered harshly, attempting to push him away though her arms were weak and his own held her tightly.

"I'm so in love with you," he admitted timidly, "so I'm not letting you go."

"S-Syaoran," the brunette repeated a third time, her mind and voice unstable from his confession.

_He loves me…_

_He…really loves me…_

She couldn't handle this anymore. Her brain turned into mush and she didn't even know what she was doing anymore.

"I can't do this," Sakura managed to force out her mouth, tears ready to fall from her eyes. Why did he have to make this so hard? "This is my way…of making it up to her."

"Meilin? You can't keep everyone happy, Sakura," Syaoran told her, pressing her closer to his chest.

"I just…"

"You can't. No one can. Don't blame yourself."

"It's not that easy."

"That's because you won't _let it_ be easy."

"Shut up,"

"Sakura," he started firmly, "let it go. You may not realize it, but you hurt more people when you're gone. Me, Tomoyo—heck, even Sakaki-sama, we all need you."

She swallowed again. "I…didn't think about it that way…"

"_Don't_ think about it then. Just stay with me, Sakura. I can't function without you,"

She let him hold her as their conversation continued in silence. Sakura closed her eyes and felt the burning of hot liquid in her eyes melt away. She didn't need to cry. Tears were useless in this situation. Everything was all mixed up inside of her. Her emotions didn't even matter at the moment. However, there was one thing she was completely sure of, and her decision was finally solid.

"I'm going to stay," the emerald-eyed female announced quietly, "indefinitely."

She didn't see Syaoran grin.

"Has it happened? Has it finally happened after all these thousands of years?" asked the approaching boss with a very tired look upon her face as they broke their embrace with furious blushes. The woman was still wearing the attire she'd worn the day before. It looked like she'd had a busy night.

"I believe it has," Kamiya answered neutrally. "You should know. You _were_ spying out your window."

Sakaki glared.

"And, Sakaki-san, perhaps you should…clean yourself up."

A fist was raised. "You wanna say that again?"

"I…did not intend to offend you."

"Good."

The red-eyed male gave Syaoran a bone-chilling stare. "Furthermore, we must be leaving soon."

The two were slightly taken aback, not ready to face the next obstacle.

"I'm not letting Sakura go," he growled possessively, grabbing her hand and squeezing it lightly in reassurance. She suppressed a blush.

"You will," Kamiya corrected darkly, "or there will be consequences."

Sayuri stomped her feet like a child throwing a tantrum. "No fair! Sakura should get to stay!"

Suddenly, Sakura was painfully aware of the fact that everyone had seen the show between her and Syaoran. _That. Was. So. __**EMBARRASSING.**_

"Agreed," Keiko broke in, "At least, I do after that sickeningly melodramatic display of affection."

Both girls shot a glance and Haku and he backed away quickly. The dirty blond waved his hands wildly. "Hey! Hey! If it's what Sakura wants, then it's fine with me!"

"Yeah, leave the animal woman here," a very messy Rei nodded nastily as she continued to try and fix her broken nails.

Frankly, Sakura was pretty surprised that that evil witch had even said anything. Then again, making her go back to Tokyo was probably within the slut's best interests.

"You knew the consequences when you transferred," Kamiya said sternly.

"Oh, let Sakura stay!" Sakaki shouted at her boyfriend.

"I will not leave without my fifth employee," he shot back, unyielding.

"Then I'll go,"

Sakura did _not_ expect this. Never in a million years did she ever think this would happen.

"I'll go," Meilin repeated softly, "in Sakura's place."

-

Tomoyo hummed optimistically as she dropped her completed works on Sakaki's desk. Her boss had left her door wide open while she'd gone on her lunch break, so the room was empty of any other human presence. Her voice went up to a higher note as she mimicked the song perfectly, twirling gracefully out of the room.

"The voice of an angel," her boyfriend whispered sweetly as he caught her from the behind.

"And who would that angel be?" Tomoyo giggled flirtatiously.

"Why, you, of course, my love," Eriol replied, and she could sense his grin.

"Oh, so you love me?"

"I'm offended you'd even have to ask. Besides, she loves me too."

"What if she said she didn't?"

"Then I'd call her a liar."

"And what if she meant it?"

"Then I'd cry,"

The two laughed and Tomoyo brought her head back to kiss him innocently on the lips, teasing him. He pouted and snuck in a peck of his own.

"You're in an awfully good mood today," he commented observantly.

"Isn't it obvious why?" Tomoyo countered cheerfully.

-

"…and so I had some cheese and it was really yummy and stuff, and then when I got home I… Keikii? Are you even listening?"

"Spare me the details," "Keikii" groaned in despair. She'd finally given up on trying to get the sugar-high female to call her by her given name.

"Keikii's such a meanie!" Sayuri complain, scowling as she stuck out her bottom lip. "_She_ would be much nicer to me if she were still here!"

"She's not, so please," the ice-queen started in exhaustion, "no more sob stories."

Sayuri, frowning again, glared at her friend in annoyance. She was such a meanie-head. Keiko was the meanest meanie-head ever, and that's what she decided.

"You're _boring,_" she declared, pointed at said boring person as she jumped from her seat.

"At least I'm not you," Keiko retorted with a roll of her eyes.

She was bewildered. "Why would you be me?"

Stare…

Silence…

Stare…

"Excuse me while I go wall smashing with my face," the opposing woman replied as she left the room, shaking her head in exasperation.

Sayuri, still completely confused, watched her very lame friend leave the room. It felt…empty somehow.

"It's lonelier without her," she sighed sadly.

"Yeah, it is," Haku responded as he appeared at her side.

She looked down again, and then decided there was no point in being depressed. "Hey, Haku! Let's go to the arcade! I wanna compare the smell to Tokyo's!"

"Uh…Okay…" he answered, dumbfounded.

Sayuri grabbed his hand and grinned when she saw him blush from the corner of her eye.

-

"Three, six," Sakaki said into the phone, glaring at the Go board in front of her. She could tell that she was getting her ass handed to her, but still…

A chuckle came from the other side. "Isn't it time you resigned, Sakaki? I'm already winning by fifteen moku,"

"Shut up," she growled defiantly. She could make a comeback, and she would!

"Four, six," Kamiya said through the line and a clack sounded as both of them placed a stone on their board, marking his move.

Sakaki groaned as another one of her precious black stones was taken away from the board. Never mind… There was no _way_ she could win. "…I resign," she said bitterly.

"Thank you for the game," he replied wisely He knew her limits. "Don't be angry, dear maiden."

…Or not.

She snorted and rearranged the stones on her board, smirking though he couldn't see her. "Now I win,"

"I think not,"

"Well, on _my_ board I did," the red-eyed boss cackled evilly.

"You've taken up cheating now?" he questioned.

"It's not cheating," she protested cleverly, "it's improvising."

"You're temper has cooled," Kamiya commented randomly.

He was lucky they were only on the phone. "Shut up. It's just nice that she's back is all."

"I see," was all the man said.

-

"Thanks for showing me around," Meilin smiled and bowed politely.

"It was not problem, but I do think I'll have to get used to this being your office," replied her new co-worker. His name was Tamaki. Black hair and green eyes complimented him, and he was very kind to boot.

"Why?" she asked curiously. "Whose office was this before?"

He opened his mouth to respond, but stopped himself, head shaking. "Nah, it's not important. I really liked her though."

Meilin nodded in comprehension. "I…think I know who you're talking about. She was the one who gave me this chance to start over."

Tamaki cracked a grin. "Well, Mei-chan, I wouldn't worry so much. I think I'll like you too."

-

She rested contentedly on his chest, listening to the calm beat of his heart. She was finally back. The corners of her lips lifted gently as she thought of her currently situation. That was _one good _situation. It wasn't at all like the past. The brunette felt the need to tell him suddenly as a burst of courage erupted within her.

"Neh, Li," she quietly began.

"What is it?" her new boyfriend asked, peering down at her questioningly.

"Can I tell you something?"

"Anything," Syaoran prompted, smiling at her.

"I…" Sakura nearly swallowed her words, regretting even bringing up a conversation. She breathed. "I love you,"

Shockingly, he didn't look at all stunned. She twitched as he continued to smile at her. Now he was getting _really _frustrating.

"Say something," she urged in need of breaking the silence.

"I know," the playful man said with a laugh. "And I love you too. I knew that you could resist my manly charms."

Sakura raised an eyebrow as they maintained their position on the couch in her house. Part of her wanted to whack him for being so laid back at her very serious confession, but she only reacted as she usually did. He _had_ said that he loved her too. She'd let him off for now. "Your _manly_ charms? More like _feminine_ charms."

"No way!" he shouted defensively.

"Heck yes!" Sakura shot back, giggling. "You're such a sap! Honestly, revealing your undying love for me in front of _all_ our friends?"

"Eriol wasn't there!"

"_Most_ of them, then!"

He groaned. "Aw man, I'll never live it down. I'm a cheese master now!"

The Cherry Blossom laughed and pinched his cheek. "It's okay. I love my cheese master."

Syaoran's grin returned as his face was released by his girlfriend. "This…is good. Everyone gets a fresh start,"

"Yeah," she agreed softly. "What Meilin did was… I was really grateful."

"I think she felt like she owed it to you," he told her. "Plus, it was her chance to start over."

"I'm…happy," she admitted with a nod. The drama was finally at an end.

He didn't answer, and Sakura felt his piercing amber-eyes on her. Emerald met amber as their eyes gazed into each other.

"Stop staring," she ordered curtly, now glaring at him. "It freaks me out."

"What?" Syaoran asked in surprise, apparently still entranced by her.

"Your gaze," the Cherry Blossom informed him, "is creepy."

"So hurtful," he pouted cutely before he pulled her closer.

Their lips connected. They didn't need anything else. This was enough. The world was separated from their own for the few moments they lost reality. Eventually, though, they pulled apart for the air required.

"Bliss is so fleeting," he remarked with a sigh as his eyes dug into her again.

"Still, your gaze is creepy," Sakura pointed out when she noticed him staring intensely at her face.

Syaoran grinned characteristically. "So mean."

* * *

**Author's Note:** We finally reach the end! I hope it was good for you! I'm very sorry if that was unsatisfying. I did my best. I have to say that I hope all my readers review this time around. I really want to know what you all thought. What was your favourite chapter (excluding this one)? Did the ending suck? What was your favourite moment?

Yup, so please review (Yes, constructive criticism is good too!).

**And for one final time, THANK YOU FOR READING! :)**


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